Cruising For Answers
by Largeandsons
Summary: My first Fanfiction. Takes place after Series 5 Ep 5. Harry doesn't waste any time looking for Ruth and she's on an adventure of her own. Disclaimer: I don't own Spooks, just borrowing for fun. No infringement of their copyrights is intended.
1. Chapter 1

Wednesday Morning (2 days after Mik Maudsley's suicide)

Harry lies in his bed, his eyes are closed. It is morning. It is time for him to get up, get moving, get in the shower. His driver will be there soon. But he can't yet open his eyes to face this day, the first day without her. He is thinking of the last 48 hours. What went wrong? When did it start? His head is foggy. He had had too much to drink yesterday afternoon with Adam and Zaf, trying to work it all out. He needed to lay here in bed to think about it. To think about Ruth. That's it. He needed more time.

That seemed to be the underlying theme to the whole twisted turn of events. If he had had more time he would have done things differently. It had ended disastrously . She kissed him good-bye. Was that it? Was it a good-bye kiss or was it something else? She had told him not to say 'it', as if she knew what he was going to say. What was he going to say anyway? As he lays there thinking about it, he realizes that he didn't know what he was going to say her. But she did. She knew. She was always there, finishing his sentences, his thoughts. And now she was gone.

He is thinking back to the kiss. When she kissed him, in that moment, he was not a part of the kiss. At that moment, he wanted to grab her hand and lead her back up to the street, to his waiting car. That had been 'his' plan. But she had another plan. And for the first time, she and he were not on the same page. He remembers now. She was making small talk of cats, or something. His mind was in overdrive. She was kissing him. And then she was pulling away. She was telling him to let her go. That had been 'her' plan. He was speechless. She was on the boat. Do something! She's leaving! She looked back at him. He lifted his right fist to his ear, tilting his head slightly. Making a motion of answering a telephone. She must have seen him do that. She had to have seen him make that gesture. She has to know that he wants her to call. This isn't the end.

She'll call. She will contact him. But he'll have to wait. He hated this. He hated not being in control. He didn't know how long he could wait without knowing where she was. How she was.

"Beep beep," that is his phone. Two beeps. It is his driver, letting him know that he is 10 minutes away. Harry opens his eyes. The room is bright. A bright sun in the sky where yesterday had been cold and wet. He had not drawn the curtains before laying down that night. Adam and Zaf had instructed his driver to get him to his home safely. He barely remembers coming in the front door. He had stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed. With the numbness from scotch, he was able to sleep, otherwise he knows that he would not have slept at all. He made sure to plug in the charge for the phone on his nightstand. She'll call him. He couldn't miss her call.

She had left with nothing. It was cold, wet. Where was she going? Zaf told him that he had supplied her with two different identities and £1,000. She was to meet a contact in France. Upon arrival, the contact would be in touch with Zaf for further instructions. It was all they had time organize in her rushed exit.

Beep Beep Beep. Three beeps. His driver is outside. Harry picks up his phone and dials.

"I'll be out in 10 minutes" he says as he walks to his bathroom. He clicks the phone shut. Then immediately he opens it again and dials.

"Zaf, l have a meeting with the JIC at 9am. Make yourself available this morning, I'll be back on the grid by 11am". He doesn't wait for answer. He clicks the phone shut. He reaches for his electric razor.


	2. Chapter 2

"Shit" Zaf says as he closes his phone. He runs his hand through his hair. He's standing at his kitchen counter dressed in jeans and a long sleeved dress shirt. Handsome. And ready for the office.

"Who was that?" asks Jo, entering the kitchen.

"Harry. And he sounds more angry this morning than yesterday morning." He says as he reaches to put butter on his toast.

"Oh, come on now Zaf. He has to know it's not your fault. You were only doing what Ruth wanted, right?" asks Jo, as she reaches over him to place bread in the toaster.

"Well, I'm not so sure if this is what she wanted. When we were waiting for the tug to arrive, she seemed scared. I should have just ended it right there. I should have just taken her to one of our safe houses. That was such a bad idea letting her go to France. At the time it seemed ok. But now" he trails off.

"Why, what 's different now?"

"Well for one thing. I called Marc, my contact in Calais. Ruth hasn't reached out to him yet. She was instructed to go to him first. She should have been in Calais by 4pm yesterday." Says Zaf worriedly.

"Oh," says Jo.

"Yeh, it's a lot more than 'oh'. Harry will have a shit fit when I tell him that." Says Zaf.

"Yes, he will. You know I've never seen him like this. When he came back to the grid yesterday and ordered you and Adam to head out with him, he looked crazed." She says as she sips her mug of tea.

"Yeh, lucky you…missing out on a 6 hour bender at the Brown Jug. I never even knew that place existed. And I thought I knew every watering hole this side of the Thames. We started with pitchers of beer. That was Adam's doing. He must have known Harry would head to the scotch soon and wanted to prolong the inevitable. But the pitchers of beer, ugh, my insides feel like they've been scraped down with sand paper. I'm sure the taps in this place have never been cleaned. I feel sick." He says as his face droops like a puppy and he looks to Jo for sympathy.

Jo reaches up a hand and places it on his cheek.

"You'll recover, you always do. I think I heard this same speech six days ago when your mates from university were in town." She says as she tapped his cheek lightly.

"Well, Harry wants to see me at 11am. Hopefully my contact will have some good news for me by then. Could you do one thing for me this morning?" he asks sheepishly.

"No, I can't Zaffar Younis. It is your responsibility for the bathroom cleaning, we made the deal…" she starts to argue her voice rising.

"No, no, no, it's nothing like that. Can you go down to the docks at 45st and 2nd? I didn't get the name of the tug company that brought Ruth out to the rendezvous point. I'll need to get in touch with that tug pilot if my contact in Calais fails." He says.

"Sure, no problem. I'll get that on my way in and text it to you." She says, smiling. He wasn't having the best morning. She takes it easy on him.

"Great. I have to meet an analyst from GCHQ this morning at Thames House. There has been some chatter picked up, something about a new threat originating out of Pakistan. They want to make us aware of it. Adam put me on it since I used to work that area. I'm sure we'll all be briefed on it later this afternoon." He says.

"I'll get the tug boat information first thing. Then I have a dead drop pick up at Kensington Park, it's just information from an older Chinese asset that keeps informing on counterfeit goods and alien smuggling. I should be in the office by 10am." She says.

"Great. See you on the grid." Zaf says as he heads out the door.


	3. Chapter 3

Harry is in the back seat of a Lexus. He is on his way to Whitehall for a JIC meeting. He is staring at this phone, wishing it to ring. Why hasn't she called? It's driving him crazy, this waiting. Is she ok? Where is she? He taps his fingers on the seat. It's only been 24 hours since you last saw her.

"Get a grip on yourself Pearce" he says under his breath.

He turns his thoughts to the JIC meeting . He's heading there to face those bastards. He grins to himself. Now this, he is in control of. This is what he is good at. No, not good at, great. He is ready. Cotterdam. It wasn't two days ago he warned them all of a cover up and they had sat at the long conference table and balked at him. Now Cotterdam was on the front page of every newspaper and the top story on all the TV stations. Adam had made sure of that. Section D had been responsible for several leaks to the press on the Cotterdam incident. The Prime Minister and Home Secretary had no options. Scandals of terrorists and political cover-ups were worse than sex scandals. The result was the resignation of the chairman Oliver Mace and two section chiefs at Six.

Harry has no confidence in the remaining JIC members. How true were Mace's words? 'Join a club' Mace had said. Could this mean they were all rotten? How much was Mace boasting? Mace was a non-issue now. His creditability was zero. Any members that were aligned in the Mace camp were neutralized by this incident. Fortunately, his stabbing of Mace did not make any news reports. The press could be led like sheep at times, thinks Harry.

Amongst the JIC members, his stabbing of Mace had been an act of self defense. Mace swung at Harry first. Harry was exposing Mace's involvement in the moving the prisoners to Egypt for torture. Mace had lost his cool and lashed out at Harry. Harry had swung back and cut Mace. That was how the story was told. And they were all in agreement. Including Mace who agreed to the terms to keep himself out of jail. The Acts of Truth prisoners were on their way back to the UK.

Harry will meet with the Home Secretary immediately following the JIC. He is going to bring a plan into action to restore Ruth's status. Ruth. He looks down at the phone in his hand. He should put it in his suit breast pocket. No, hold it just a little longer. He stares out the car window. It is another ordinary weekday in London. People are walking briskly along the sidewalks, heading to their jobs. Construction workers are on the corner, tearing up and repairing a section of the road. A news vendor kiosk and bus stop. Several youths dressed in their uniforms, meandering around waiting for their school bus.

Another look at his phone. He turns it over in his hand a few times. Then with a heavy sigh, he places the phone in suit breast pocket.

"All set here Mr. Pearce?" his driver asks as he pulls the car to the curb.

"Yes, here is fine." Harry exits the car and enters Whitehall.


	4. Chapter 4

"And she still hasn't contacted Marc?" Adam asks Zaf. They are standing near Ruth's empty desk on the Grid.

"No. And you were there too, when Ruth said that she would do that first thing. You were there Adam. You've got to back me up when Harry blows a gasket." Says Zaf, pleading for his support.

"Yes, yes of course. Harry'll be here shortly. Let's wait till he gets here before we do anything he may not agree with. In the mean time, get together a presentation on the information you received from GCHQ this morning. I got a call from Grosvenor Park, they are aware of the same intelligence that you received this morning about a terrorist cell from Pakistan. They wanted to meet this afternoon. But I was able to push them off till tomorrow morning so that we would have time to deal with the Ruth issue. We'll figure it out Zaf. You know Ruth, probably just got caught up in a book shop." says Adam, trying to force a grin.

"We've got to figure it out soon and fix it. We need Ruth back here. If I'm left to doing the presentations on the new developments then my career here at Five is sunk. No one can pull as much intelligence together as Ruth can. How does she keep it all straight Adam?" he asks.

"Not sure. Still don't know how she came up with the idea to leave. How was that going to solve anything? I think we all agree that she is indispensable on the grid. We need to get her back here." Adam continues. "I was thinking about how much time she put in on the Grid. Not much of a personal life. But I guess you could say that for all of us, eh?" asks Adam.

"Yeh, you could say that about all of us" says Jo as she enters the conversation. She crosses the room and drops a large yellow envelope on Malcolm's desk.

"This is the drop from Mr. Chow?" asks Malcolm, opening the envelope and removing a compact disk.

"Yes, he left it in the same spot. We should contact him to switch locations. Just for better tradecraft," says Jo.

"I wish Ruth were here" says Malcolm. "She was our Chinese translator with Mr. Chow. I'll have to contact Deborah Langham and have her send up someone from our language pool. We'll need extra bodies."

"Yes," says Adam. "and tell her we need another analyst. See if she can get a loaner from another department to replace Ruth in the interim."

"Don't waste your time," says Ros. "I called Ms. Langham first thing this morning and her machine reports that she is on holiday for the next eight days. There is no one else in that department to handle any personnel shifts that we may need. We'll have to wait till Ms. Langham returns."

"Well Ros," says Adam. "In that case I'd like you to pick up some of the work around here. Some of us are going to have to put some time into Ruth's situation. I'll need you to handle the other work. You can start by taking a look at that information from Mr. Chow" he points at Malcolm's desk.

"Fine. While you all focus on trying to bring Ruth back to the Grid so that we can pacify Harry by allowing him to continue with his non-existent love affair with his star analyst then I would be…" Ros trails off.

"Bugger up Ros," says Zaf, "this isn't about Harry. This is about section D. We need Ruth back here."

Ros likes to get a rise out of her co-workers and to keep them at arm's length with her cutting remarks. She smiles, gets up from her desk, and approaches Malcolm.

"I have few capable discreet contacts at Six that will be able to work a quick translation. Give me the disk Malcolm." He hands her the disk from the envelope. She places it in her bag and heads towards the pods.

Harry enters the Grid and nods to Ros as she quickly exits.

He slowly looks around the grid. He rests his eyes briefly at Ruth's empty desk. He's tense. He can feel the pressure building in his neck. All eyes are on him. He walks towards his office while shouting "Adam, Zaf, Jo, Malcolm conference room five minutes!"


	5. Chapter 5

They file into the conference room. Harry is already seated at the head of the table, shirt sleeves rolled up to his forearms, and his cell phone placed in front of him on the conference table. He can't leave it. It is a part of him now. They all take a seat. They wait for a Harry to speak. He looks at each of them. Adam breaks the silence.

"I've been in contact with the cousins on the Pakistani information that Zaf collected this morning from GCHQ. We've scheduled a meeting for 10am tomorrow morning here on the grid. This will allow us some time to collect additional intelligence in order to present…" he trails off.

"Zaf" Harry barks.

"Yes Harry." Zaf replies.

"You've heard from your contact?" It is implied that the discussion has turned to Ruth, without actually mentioning her.

"Yes. And my contact has not heard from her. The expected meet was approximately 3pm yesterday afternoon in Calais." All eyes are down, looking at the table. Harry's complexion is almost ashen, white.

"Ok." Harry says softly. "That's about 20 hours overdue. One overnight. Plus about 6 hours of daylight now. Still no contact." His fingers are drumming the table. "Malcolm?" he asks.

"I've put a watch out on both identities that we provided to her. With Ruth it was very easy to make new identities. Her ability to speak multiple languages provided us with numerous options for false identification. English, French, Spanish, Italian, Persian, Arabic, Mandarin…" he trails off.

"Malcolm, get to the names," says Adam as he notices Harry's impatience beginning to show.

"Yes, yes of course. Rosa Alcantara-Perez, dob 4/16/1965, with a Spanish passport. The second identification is Roberta Price, dob 3/19/1965, with an American passport. It was thought there would be more options for Ruth with both a European passport and an American passport. So this morning I added both names to a 'watch' list that would signal a silent hit if either of these passports are scanned at any port of entry or exit throughout Europe or the Americas. I'll do the same for countries in Asia this afternoon. This 'watch' will send a silent hit to me here on the grid if either passport is used. They have not been used yet," says Malcolm as he turns to Harry.

"Adam, recommend a course of action," says Harry, barely audible.

"We need to find her. We need to bring her back here, make sure she's safe. She is safe to return, isn't she Harry?" he asks.

"I've spoken to the Home Secretary. The only thing we are waiting to clear is the female witness to Mik Maudsley's suicide. It seems someone looking a lot like Ruth threatened this woman at gun point." Harry puts his head down and puts a hand up to his forehead and continues. "I can't imagine who would have thought that this was a necessary part an already poorly constructed scenario. I'll need a day or two to clear this up. Jo, I'll need your assistance," he says.

"Yes of course Harry" Jo replies.

Harry straightens up in his seat.

"Mace is not a problem," he says "no one at the JIC is a problem. I think they've all learned a lesson not to fuck with Section D."

"Ok then," says Adam. "We need to go to the last known person to see Ruth. That is the tug boat pilot. Zaf and I will head down to the docks now."

"I'm going with you," says Harry. He picks up his phone and heads to his office to get his jacket.


	6. Chapter 6

It is about noon time and Richard is angling his tug boat into the dock. He had been out at sea doing four different jobs since early morning. He'd been a seaman all his life, working tugs for the last 13 years. He is looking forward to a quick lunch at the closest pub and then home to catch a football match on the television. He notices three men standing near the main business office. He's hoping it doesn't have anything to do with the girl from yesterday. He ties his tug down to the dock and heads towards the office.

"You're Richard?" asks Zaf.

"Who wants to know?" Richard quickly barks back a response.

Before Richard can get those words out he finds himself plastered to the wall being held two inches off the ground by the Indian looking man. The other two are coming closer.

"You're worst nightmare! That's who wants to know!" Zaf screams into his face, only inches away.

This was it. The woman had warned him. These were the dangerous men that were looking for her. She was escaping them. She needed his help. She was a very sweet woman. She had reminded him of his younger sister. She was frightened. Of course he would help her. She had even given him €500. That wasn't necessary. He would help her anyway. It was in his nature. He helped people all day long with his tug. That's just what he did. This was it. These thugs were out for her. Stay calm.

"Whoah! Calm down. What's this all about?" asks Richard.

Zaf lowers him to the ground, yet still holding on to his collar. Adam approaches from the side.

"Yesterday, you were to bring a woman to Calais," says Adam, "A man paid you £200 to do that. She never made it. You were the last to see her. Where is she?"

"I did bring a woman to Calais. Yes, I did!" he exclaims loudly.

Zaf loosens his hold on him.

"She had brown shoulder length hair. She was about five feet tall," he says as he raises an arm out to his side "she was sad. She cried the whole way. I offered her a cup of hot tea, she refused it. Too upset about something. A boyfriend she said. Didn't treat her right I'm guessing," he says.

Hearing this, Harry turns ashen. He feels his breast pocket to check that his phone is still there. It is.

"Where did you bring her?" asks Adam.

"Just where we had agreed. I dropped her at pier 37 in Calais. She got off the tug, headed up the dockway, and that's all I could see. I stayed a few minutes to see if I could see her, but the way the buildings are so crowded down there, I lost sight of her. I was concerned. She was very upset," he says.

Harry feels ill. He wants to vomit. His hand reaches again for his phone.

Richard's manner is too calm about this encounter and it makes Adam doubtful of his story. He signals a look to Zaf who immediately grabs Richard and tosses him back into the wall. He hits it hard and falls to the ground. His wind is knocked out. He gasps for air. Not an unfamiliar feeling. Richard has been in enough bar room fights on the docks for his 50 plus years. He stands back up, gasping for air.

"What do you want from me?" Richard asks.

"What did you do with her!" screams Zaf into his face.

"Look, I'm telling you the truth," he says.

"We're not going anywhere, till you tell us what you did with her!" Zaf screams.

Zaf then takes Richard's right arm and twists it around his back and pushes him face first into the wall. He his holding him tight against the wall and applying pressure to his arm.

"Alright," says Adam "let him loose."

Zaf lets go of the hold and Richard sighs in relief.

"Come on Harry, let's get out of here," says Adam. "We'll come back later. We'll let this guy think about it awhile. We'll make a visit to his boss, his family, his…" Adam trails off.

"Wait! Did you say Harry? Are you Harry?" asks Richard, looking at Zaf unsure.

"I'm Harry!" says Harry.

"Oh Christ! You're Harry?" says Richard letting out a big sigh.

"Oh Christ! She told me that there were dangerous men after her! Christ you guys! She told me to tell that story…about pier 37 in Calais. Christ! She said the only one I could tell the truth to was Harry!" he sighs. "Christ I thought you were all going to kill me! She said they were really bad men after her" he sighs again.

"Where is she?" asks Harry.

"Whew! Ok. Ok. When she got on the tug yesterday morning she was really upset. Crying and all. So I offered her some tea. She and I talked. She said there were dangerous men after her. She wouldn't say why. I thought it was a boyfriend, thought she got mixed up with the wrong crowd. She reminded me of my younger sister, she had got in trouble like that. Anyway, I had a job to pick up some medical people at pier 16 here in London and bring them out to the QE2 which had already left port to head to New York. The medical people were to board the QE2 for some medical issue going on with some high class passenger or whatever. After the QE2 stop, we would then head to Calais to drop her off." He sighs, catches his breath and continues. "So, when we get to pier 16 there were four girls there, all Chinese and they get on board. Go figure, Chinese! So your girl, well she tries to compose herself. And she starts speaking to them in Chinese! Did you know she speaks Chinese?" he asks. No one responds, they want him to continue "So she's all chatting them up and I'm piloting the tug. Then she comes up to me, says she has a change of plans. She tells me that she is going to go on the QE2 with the medical people. It will be safer for her. Who am I to argue? I'd take a cruise on the QE2 over Calais any day of the week. So we approach the QE2 and unknown to me, your girl has changed into one of the nurse uniforms. And one of the Chinese girls is dressed in her clothes. Your girl gets onto the QE2 with the three others. I then drop the changed girl at this same dock here" he signals by pointing down. "She ran up that dock here as quick as a rabbit," he says.

They are silent. They are not sure if he is finished.

Richard is looking back and forth at all three of them. "Listen, she said there were bad men after her. She said that I could only tell this to Harry." He is looking for a response, yet he continues. "She said that Harry will come and find me, she knew you would, and that I was tell you where she went. But only Harry. Not any others. She said they were dangerous." Richard is looking for them to respond. They are silent. "It had to be about 10am, yeh that's right, about 10am that she got on the cruise ship."

Harry's right hand is still on his breast pocket. "Thank you," he says softly. He turns and walks toward the Lexus that was parked at the corner. Adam turns to follow. Zaf holds out his hand and shakes with Richard.

"Thanks mate." It is all Zaf can say.


	7. Chapter 7

Ruth lies down on the single bed. It feels good to be horizontal she thinks. She hasn't slept in two nights. The adrenaline has not subsided. Her thoughts are racing. She knows she won't sleep but she feels relief just lying down. She is in a 3rd class passenger state room on the QE2 heading to New York. She is dressed in medical scrubs. Yes, medical scrubs. She chuckles aloud to herself. That's the adrenaline withdrawal, that's what Harry would say.

Ruth has just completed her second 8 hour shift caring for the elderly and very ill Lifen Wong. Mr. Wong is a wealthy Chinese American that had taken ill on a business trip to London. Wong's son and two grandchildren had flown from New York to London to bring him back to the states. However, all of the airlines refused to fly back such a severely ill man. Therefore, the family had no choice. Either they bring him back on the QE2 ship or he dies in London. The Wong's booked 4 first class stateroom suites on the ship and set sail for New York. The ship's doctor realized shortly after leaving the port that Mr. Wong would need additional health aides. They requested Chinese speaking medical personnel. Ruth met this group on the tug boat early yesterday morning on her way to Calais.

Ruth chuckles again to herself as she remembers the encounter with the health aides. Three of them were speaking Chinese amongst themselves. There was boastful talk of an exciting cruise ship. They had never been on such a holiday. New York was a great city to visit. They couldn't wait. The fourth young girl was scared, she didn't like boats and she was getting green from just the short ride on the tug. She looked like she was going to vomit. Ruth spoke to her in Chinese, told her to keep her eyes on the horizon and that would help with the sea sickness. It was too late, she vomited over the side of the boat. She started to plead with the other girls to get the guy to turn the tug around, that she wouldn't make it. She would die! The three others were telling her to get a grip on it. They needed four people for this trip and that was the agreement with the agency. They couldn't turn back. Their agency would give the job to some others and they really wanted to get to New York and what better way than the QE2! More vomit over the side.

The three girls were surprised by Ruth's ability to speak Chinese. They told Ruth that they were going to do a medical assistant job on a cruise ship. They quickly asked if she would take the fourth's place on the trip. It would be easy they said. All she would have to do is handle the oxygen. They would show her. The patient was a really old guy. He was probably going to die anyway so she shouldn't feel bad. Ruth thought about it.

"I'd love to take the cruise too," said Ruth. She wanted to sound light hearted and care free. Far from what she was actually feeling. "But I don't have any passport with me, I was just going down the coast to visit a friend for the day, I don't have any clothes or suitcase."

"Take mine!" said the sick girl. Before Ruth could even agree to this haphazard plan, the girl was stripping out of her uniform. Ruth wondered if this girl was going to hurl herself overboard she wanted off that boat so badly.

Ruth handed her Ros' coat and went to talk with the tug pilot. He was fine with the idea. Said he'd rather take the cruise too! He would cover for her, if those men came looking for her. She told him about Harry, that Harrry would come looking for her and he was to tell Harry that she went on the cruise. She felt like this was a good omen. The girls were young innocents going on a big trip. She didn't know what awaited her in France. This was a better option. She should stay flexible. A few days at sea where no one would know her. Things had been going terribly wrong since yesterday morning. She was doubting every decision she had made, everything that she had done, including saying goodbye to Harry. She had to make a change, and jumping on a cruise ship with three carefree young people was so unRuthlike that it just may be the right thing to do.

Ruth turns over on her side in the bed. She hears the hum of the cruise ship engines. They say you get used to that sound after a few days. She's not so sure of that. She thinks of Harry. Nothing new there. She always thinks of Harry. She pretends that he is with her. Lying next to her in the bed. His arm wrapped around her waist. She imagines him sleeping. If she imagines that he is sleeping next to her, perhaps she too may fall asleep. Then the vision of Harry on the dock appears to her. She is moving further and further away from him. He looks sad. She had tried to keep herself together. But she had started to cry. And here now in the bed, she cries.

They are just tears. She wipes them away but they keep coming. Just like they did on the tug boat. The boat pilot was concerned. He was kind. Boyfriend trouble? He had asked. She couldn't even respond. She was looking back at Harry. He was waving to her, or touching his head. There were tears flooding her eyes. She couldn't see him anymore. The boat pilot explained about a quick errand of delivering people to a cruise ship. He poured her a cup of tea.

She lies there in the bed, not sleeping, thinking of Harry on the dock. He had come to say goodbye. That made it even sadder for Ruth. She had hoped that there would be no goodbye then things would be easier. But there he was standing in front of her on the dock. It was real. Not like the pretend Harry she always had with her. This was it. It was final. It was real. She was leaving. So she did what she had always wanted to do, she kissed him. She didn't want to stop. He had put his arms around her waist. The tug pilot wanted to leave. She had to go. They had said their goodbye.

She's still thinking of Harry on the dock. What was he doing, waving good-bye? It dawns on Ruth as she lies there in the bed that Harry was making a gesture for her to call. That's it! He wanted her to call him. Of course, that's what he was doing. Ruth sits up in the bed and checks the radio alarm clock. It's past noon time in London. She should try to call Harry. He would be worried since she didn't meet with the contact in France. She'll have to let him know that she's ok.

She lies back down. What will she say to him? She tries to think of something that she will say to him. She pretends again that he is beside her spooning into her back, sleeping, snoring perhaps. She is tired. She tries to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

"Bloody hell, a cruise ship," says Zaf from the back seat of the Lexus.

"And here I had visions of her drowned at sea! With sharks! Bloody hell a cruise ship!" laughs Adam. "Midnight chocolate buffets, sunning on the deck, open bar, a regular working girl's paradise," says Adam from the driver's seat. Harry is in the front passenger seat staring straight ahead.

It's adrenaline withdrawal, their jokes, thinks Harry. He knows this, but he still cannot make light of it. He opens his phone and places a call.

"Malcolm, the QE2,…yes….yes" and hangs up.

"Good work," Harry says, "both of you."

"She did the right thing, you know," says Adam. "Mace and his people, they couldn't get to her on that ship. She is safe there, well relatively safe. Problem is now, how to get in touch with her. She can't know any of the developments here," Adam pauses, "she may be stowing away, hiding on the ship, what do you think Zaf?"

"Well she had the nurse's uniform to start. In her situation, I would probably grab a waiter's uniform. Keep a low profile. Eat in the kitchen, get my sleep on the deck chairs at night. It might be hard to come by a room key. Hell I don't know, I've never been on a cruise. Have you? Either of you?" asks Zaf.

"No," says Adam.

"No," says Harry.

"No, of course not, that would mean we actually had a life outside of work," laughs Zaf. "Brings us back to this morning's discussion doesn't it." Zaf trails off. "Well, I hope Ruth is at least enjoying some of it…"

"She's been labeled a murderess and a traitor," Harry somberly says. "She's left her home, her friends, her family. She's scared. She's upset. And she hasn't contacted anyone of us!" Harry says, his voice raising.

"Well, Harry" says Adam. "One thing good here. Ruth did know that you were coming. She knew you would find that tug boat pilot and get the right message of where she is."

"Yes," says Harry. He reaches for his phone in his breast pocket. "Do they have cell phone service on a cruise ship? Oh hell, let's get back to the grid and see what Malcolm has. I have to head out with Jo and settle this witness problem we have."

Adam pulls the Lexus to the curb outside of Thames house. Jo is standing outside the building with a large duffle bag slung over her shoulder. Both Adam and Zaf exit the vehicle. Harry moves to the driver's seat and Jo gets into the passenger seat, throwing the duffle bag into the back. They drive off.


	9. Chapter 9

After two hours of non-sleep, Ruth gets out of bed. She checks the suitcase she arrived with. It is Kathy Lu's suitcase. She is Kathy Lu now. A twenty three year old health aide from London. It had been so easy. They were greeted at the ship by a uniformed officer who provided each of them with a room key. He never asked for identification. He brought them first to Mr. Wong's room. Jesse, the leader of their group, suggested that Ruth and she take the first shift. Jane and Carol would split the second shift. No one was in the room but the patient so Jesse would have time to discreetly train Ruth on the oxygen therapy. It was simple learning the operation of the oxygen, for Ruth anyway. Jesse was impressed. Ruth had more questions on the oxygen than Jesse had answers.

"Look, it's really not that hard," Jesse said. "don't make rocket science out of it."

Ruth smiled. She knew she was over analyzing it. "Ok. I just don't want to get blown up by this thing." Ruth had said making a joke.

"Just don't smoke in here," said Jesse.

"No, of course not," she replied.

After an hour into their shift Jesse left Ruth alone with Mr. Wong. Jesse would check back on Ruth every hour. Just to make sure all was good. Ruth sat in the armchair and started to read the manuals that came with the oxygen tanks. It was very Ruthlike. She wanted to do a good job. Jesse came back into the room for the first two tank changes and then both agreed that Ruth didn't need further assistance.

Ruth checked over Mr. Wong. By the looks of him, Ruth gathered that he had liver failure. His skin was yellow brownish in color. She guessed that he was about 80 years old. Other than an intravenous drip and the oxygen, there were no other medical treatments for him. Approximately every three hours, the ship's doctor would come into the room. He would look at the intravenous drip, take the patient's blood pressure, and feel for his pulse on his neck. It seemed to Ruth that he was just checking to see if the guy was alive. The doctor barely acknowledged Ruth. That was fine. Ruth was trying to keep a low profile and sitting in Wong's room reading medical equipment manuals was better than running from Mace.

Ruth is sitting on her bed looking in the suitcase and deciding what to wear. The last two days events are surreal to Ruth. She almost feels like she is not a real part of it. That she is outside her body watching this person have extraordinary mishaps. Everything Ruth has done in life has been done with a plan. Not this. She wishes she had had more time to figure out what Maudsley was trying to tell her. 'You're becoming to fixated on it' that's what Harry had said. She had fallen right into Mace's trap for Harry. She was accused of the murder of Maudsley. And Harry was willing to go to jail for her. What could she do? She starts to cry again.

"I have to stop this" she says aloud to herself and wipes tears from her eyes. Her attention is back to Kathy Lu's suitcase. She shakes her head as she pulls out a pair of skinny jeans and a tight cut t-shirt. Why not? Another unRuthlike thing to do. She puts on Kathy Lu's clothes. She needs to get something to eat and to find a phone to contact Harry. What will she say? She still doesn't know. Ruth pulls at the tight jeans, they fit. Kathy Lu is just a little taller than Ruth, but they wear the same size.

As Ruth leaves the room, she pretends that Harry is with her. That they are walking down the corridor towards the elevators, he is holding her hand. He would hold the doors open for her with his arm and she would walk past him into the elevator. He would do that, hold the doors, he was a gentleman. She always pretended these little things. And when he was around her, on the grid she would catch herself having these Harry moments and she would flush, embarrassed that he might know that she was thinking of him. Ruth knows her brain could handle, manage, and analyze large amounts of information. She was good at that. The pretend Harry moments were her brain's recess from it all. It was a playground. It belonged only to her. And she enjoyed it.

Ruth exits the elevator and heads toward the 'media room' located on the Promenade deck. There are televisions, phones, and computers in this room. She tries to thinks of what she'll say to him.


	10. Chapter 10

"She hasn't been in touch with me yet," Harry says, frustrated. He takes a hand from the steering wheel to again check that his phone is in his pocket. It is.

"I'm not sure they have phone service on the ship." Jo says. "How did you leave it with her the other morning?" Jo is sensing that Harry wants to talk.

"Not sure. Not sure why she left. Do you? Do you know why she left? I mean really, there were other options. Why did she want to leave? Did she mention anything to you?" asks Harry.

"Ruth? She loves this job Harry. She must have been embarrassed about how it all played out. I mean, all of sudden here is the chairman of the JIC, Mace, on the grid accusing her of being a traitor! I could see how much it pained her right there. I died of embarrassment for her. We all knew it was false, and here she was escorted out the building by security, my god Harry!" says Jo, her voice raising in disgust of it all.

Harry slams his fist on the dashboard in frustration as he too remembers the incident. "Bastard, if I ever see him again I'll kill him!" Harry is glad that he has Jo in the car and that they are talking. He needs to see it all from a woman's point of view.

Jo continues "She was shaking Harry! In tears! She probably thought it was an embarrassment to you too, that she would never be able to get her job back. Maybe she felt leaving was the only option to her. To just get away from the craziness. You know how she is. She's such a private person and all eyes were on her. I'm sure she died a thousand deaths in that one minute it took for security to clear her out!"

"But why Ruth? Why did they have to go after her?" asks Harry, truly questioning.

"What?" Jo shrugs. "Why Ruth? They knew they could get to you through her! Come on now Harry, you're not going to deny that you're in love with her!"

"Come on now Jo, we had one date. You could hardly call that a love affair," says Harry.

"I'm definitely _not_ calling it a love affair," she blurts, almost laughs, "but I think it was obvious, at least to us on the grid, that there's a strong bond between you two. And that _one_ date? I'll tell you Harry, she was thrilled. Not that she said anything about it, but that's Ruth, keeping the personal life out of work. But smiling at her desk, glancing into your office, checking the clock on the wall, making sure she would be on time. And you the same way, staring out at her, god you were like high school kids! She was shocked to hear some whisperings around the office about her dinner with you. You know Ruth, she's the most talented analyst on the grid, works hard every day, and smart! And all those languages Harry! She's indispensable! And now with one dinner date she gets it in her head that _all_ she has accomplished is out the window and she's going to be known as the office girl shagging the boss!"

Harry is speechless. He hasn't thought of it all like this. He gulps. He had dismissed Ruth's concerns about office gossip. He thought she was exaggerating it or over analyzing it.

"She told me that people were talking. But what the hell Jo! People talk whether it's true or not so what's the bloody difference!" it's a statement, not a question.

"Harry" says Jo as she points to the pavement. "Pull over right here. The witness's job is two doors down on the right side here. We'll catch her coming out of work and make the approach right here. I'll get in the back seat with her and you drive. We shouldn't give her an opportunity to flee."

Harry likes Jo. She is smart. She is young. She is a great spook. Harry knows that Jo will convince this woman to change her statement to the police, to recant any threats that Ruth had made. The duffle bag in the back seat contains cash. Harry knows the number one motivator for any informant, contact, or witness is money. They will appeal to this woman on a personal level and then sweeten the deal with cash.

"I just want her to call me," says Harry.

"What will you say to her when she calls?" asks Jo.

He hadn't thought of that. What would he say to her?

"I don't know. I just want to hear her voice," he says. He's surprised at his blatant honesty with Jo. "I need to hear her voice. I need to hear that she's alright."


	11. Chapter 11

Ruth heads to the back of the main deck. There is a small buffet with sandwiches and salads at this location available day and night. She has eaten all her meals at this location. She selects a tuna salad and a bag of potato crisps and sits at a small café table. Her work shifts with Mr. Wong leave her without the formal dining options. The other girls are loving their formal meals and describe them in length to Ruth. She finishes her lunch and walks toward the front of the boat.

Ruth enters the media room. There are eight computer terminals and three are open. She sits down at the one furthest from the front entry. She clicks on the internet and goes to a website to check the news. The top story is about a footballer caught driving drunk in Liverpool and smashing up his car. Must be a slow news day. She reads of a scandal in the security services and that Oliver Mace has resigned. This story is halfway down the page, not the top story. She resists the urge to Google her own name.

She looks across the room. There are four booths against the wall that contain telephones. She gets up from the computer terminal and starts for the telephone area. Quickly, she drops back down into her seat.

"Well I told Brittany that there was no way she should let her daughter go down to Plymouth for the weekend with the boy she just met!" says a woman's voice.

Ruth pails. She knows this voice. It's Debra Langham! Christ! Debra Langham is in one of the phone booths! Ruth ducks down behind the computer screen. What now? Debra must know about Ruth's scandal and death. Ruth almost forgets that part, she is supposed to be dead! She decides it is best to get out of the room as quickly as possible. Ruth nonchalantly stands and exits the room. She turns the corner and picks up her pace. She doesn't have time to wait for an elevator, she heads quickly to an internal stairwell.

Ruth pauses halfway down the first landing. There are people on the next landing. They are speaking Chinese, a Cantonese dialect. Is it her fellow health aides? No, it is not. She listens. They are talking about _'being discreet' when they get into port. The more normal you look the less suspicion. Don't get nervous. Have a last drink before heading to the exit if you're that nervous. _ The man is trying to calm someone. Ruth decides to head down the stairs. She passes them and says "Hi" in English. They respond "Hi" and smile. A young man and woman, about 25 years old. She continues down the stairs and heads to her stateroom.

She enters her room and leans her back against the door. She lets out a big sigh. What now? It's obvious that Debra Langham is on holiday. This is a big ship. Ruth thinks that she'll just have to keep a lower profile. She can't call Harry now. She'll have to try later. Her next shift with Mr. Wong is not for another 2 hours. She decides to put her medical scrubs back on and head to her shift early. She'll convince Jesse to switch up a couple of hours with her. This will allow some time later to call Harry, possibly during the formal dinner service with Debra out of the way.

Ruth enters Mr. Wong's room. Jesse is happy about the shift change. She thinks shorter shifts will work better too if Ruth would like to keep shorter shifts that way. They both agree. Jesse leaves. Ruth checks Mr. Wong's oxygen tank. She hears the door open, she thinks it's Jesse. She turns and sees the young Chinese couple that she had seen in the stairwell not 20 minutes ago.

"Hello," the young man says. "Are you a part of the medical staff?"

"Yes, I just came on shift. I'm checking the tank," she says. They must be the family members since they have a key to the room.

"Thank you so much for what you are doing, what you all are doing for my grandfather. He was just fine last week before he went to London on a business trip. It is sad to see him like this," he says. "My sister and I," he nods to the girl, "are bringing him back to New York for treatment. He has a doctor there. My father is on this ship too. We were all so worried," he says.

"My grandfather is 81 years old" the girl says.

"Well, we'll do our best" Ruth says.

The cabin door opens again and in walks a Chinese male, about 50 years old, very distinguished looking with graying hair. He is wearing a dark business suit, not your typical cruise attire thought Ruth. This must be the son. Three generations in this room thinks Ruth.

**_(Chinese language in italics)_**

The older man addresses them in Chinese _"Everything alright in here? Who is this woman? I thought we had all Chinese health aides?" _ he asks.

_"She is the only one that is not Chinese, this is her shift. She was just checking the oxygen tank,"_ the younger man responds.

Ruth feigns ignorance of the language and takes her seat in the chair.

_"Well, once we get him to New York he will be fine. My contact in Hong Kong has assured me that the antidote to the poison will work. We just need to keep him from dehydrating and plenty of oxygen. Has that pesty ship doctor come by asking more questions again?"_ he asks.

_"No, we haven't seen him,"_ says the young woman.

_"Good. And the money? Have you found a good place to hide it?" _he asks.

_"Yes, we decided to keep four suitcases right here in this room, in the closet. Sort of hiding in plain sight."_ He smiles. _"Weili has four cases in her room and I have eight in mine. We decided to keep your room out of it, just in case anyone recognizes you,"_ he says.

What the hell is going on here! Ruth feels the hair on her neck standing up. Act calm now she says to herself. She yawns and picks up the crossword puzzle that Jesse had left and flips a few pages.

_"I was able to get a call to New York this morning. The team of three left yesterday. They should be in London right now taking care of the problem. Poisoning the head of the family was a mistake. We won't tolerate it. They will be dealt with straight away," _ says the man. He is staring at the old man in the bed. _"He should make it. The doctor says he'll make it."_

_"Yes father,"_ says the girl. She takes her father's hand.

"Thank you, miss…miss?" asks the older man addressing Ruth in English.

Ruth appears startled at the English being spoken now. "Oh. You're welcome. My name is Kathy."

"Thank you Kathy. I am Frederick. This is my father," he says pointing to the bed. "He is a great man. The head of a great family."

"Well, we'll be here to keep watch on him." Ruth says reassuringly.

"Thank you Kathy," he says. _"Let's head to the dinner."_ He says in Chinese to his children.

They exit the room.

Ruth slowly puts down the crossword puzzle. She checks Mr. Wong's oxygen tank. She looks at the cabin door. They are heading to dinner. She recounts their conversation. Poison? Suitcases full of money? A team of three to deal with people in London?

Ruth looks around the room taking it all in. She has spent 16 hours in it and now she is seeing it all in a different light. She heads to the main cabin door and looks into the hallway. It is empty. She slides the chain to lock the door. "You're a born spook," she says aloud to herself in a whisper. She smiles. She feels that Harry is right next to her.

She opens the first closet located near the cabin door. There are spent oxygen tanks located in it. She closes it and heads to the bedroom closet. She opens it and sure enough there are four large sized suitcases stacked on top of each other. There is also a duffle bag on the side. She pulls the top suitcase out of the closet and lays it flat. There is a cheap lock on the zippers of the case. She searches through the suitcase side pocket and locates the key. She unlocks and unzips the case. She has a look of both horror and delight on her face. The suitcase is packed tight with stacks of British pound notes. All different denominations. The money looks used. Not new money. It is definitely money that has been around in circulation. She reaches under some of the stacks. She finds a stack that is all mostly 100 pound notes. She places this stack in her waistband. She zips and locks the case. She should check the others.

She methodically unlocks, unzips and searches through the suitcases. They are all packed with stacks of money. She can't guess at the amount of money since it appears in all different denominations. She places them back in the closet in the correct order she searched them. Lastly she pulls out the duffle bag. She unzips it and counts eight unopened boxes of brand new satellite phones. Ruth knows that these phones retail for about € 500. Not cheap! These phones are favored by spies, terrorists, and the mafia. Which category did this group fall into?

What has she stumbled into? She knows she has to do one thing. She has to call Harry. Her replacement will be back in about an hour.


	12. Chapter 12

Harry drops Jo at the front of Thames house and proceeds to drive around the building into the back entrance and underground garage park. He thinks of what Jo has told him. About how utterly distraught and scared Ruth would have been after the events on the grid two days ago. He had only been thinking of his own anger about the whole situation. After all, it had been him that Mace was targeting.

He thinks back to her first call that morning. He had been getting dressed for work. The phone rang and he saw her number on the screen. He had hesitated. Things were not right between them recently. She had tried to put some distance between them since he had approached her at Heavensworth. Maybe she was right and he should do the same. Maybe he should just let this call go to voicemail, call her back later. He had picked it up on the third ring.

He remembers how her voice trembled, just a bit, as she told him that she would be late for work, that there had been an accident that she witnessed. He had asked if she was ok. She had said yes. Yet, he heard in her voice that she was not. He said that he would meet her. She said she was going to go back to her flat. He said he was on his way. And he did, he went straight there, told his driver to be quick. When he arrived he walked up the steps, she immediately opened the door, she was waiting for him. She was speaking quickly, running her thoughts. A suicide, the man wanted change for a ten, the train screeched, people were screaming, a dead drop. She trembled as she told the story. He was in her kitchen. He offered to make tea, sweet tea, to help settle her. He told her to take the morning off. Then he left.

Harry brushes a hand over his head as he pulls the car into a space in the corner of the basement. He should have stayed with Ruth. That was mistake number one. He should have stayed with her. She had reached out to him and this time, it was he that pulled away. Why had he done that? "Stupid man" he says aloud to himself in the car. He turns the car off and puts the keys on the dashboard.

He remembers entering his office later that morning and she was sitting at his desk. He smiled. She hadn't done that in weeks. It had been a habit that she had frequently used his office when he was out. He didn't mind. She had said that sometimes she just needed the closed office to concentrate and finish a task without the banter of her co-workers on the grid. He was happy to see her at his desk. Again, he realizes now, it was her way of reaching out to him. Another signal he missed. She was still not herself and of course she was already knee deep in Cotterdam files. Mistake number two, he didn't listen to her. He thought she was being hysterical over it all, jumping to conclusions. He should have stayed with her all day. Been by her side. Checking the information she was uncovering. He should never have left her. What else could she do but go to the morgue on her own.

He had convinced her to let him give her a ride home. It was just a ride. Mistake number three. He dropped her off. He should have made some excuse to get into her house. Make sure that she was alright. Make sure she ate something. They could have had dinner together.

He exits the car and walks to the elevator. He is exhausted. He reaches for his phone and looks at the time. Its 3pm. He has been without Ruth for just over a day now and it feels like a lifetime.

If she would just call, he would tell her that he had straightened out the situation. That Mace had resigned and had agreed to leave London. Mace was not a threat anymore. That the witness she was made to threaten had been paid off. That they had kept her name out of the press and few would remember the incident in a week.

He would tell her that he was sorry. He would apologize for letting things get out of hand, for not listening, for not being there for her.

If only she would call him.


	13. Chapter 13

Ruth is in the media room. She settles into one of the phone booths. She picks up the receiver and dials her cabin room number into the phone for billing purposes and then dials Harry's cell phone. It rings four times and it is going to voicemail. She hangs up. Should she leave him a message? What should she say? She almost starts to cry. Tears are welling up in her eyes. Oh stop this, she's mad at herself. Tell him about the money. She picks up the phone and dials again. Four rings, it is going to voicemail. She tries to be cryptic.

"Harry, listen it's me. I'm fine. I'm on my way to New York. I've come across something interesting here you should know about. I'm going to contact Malcolm. He'll know how. Tell him to lookout for my message. And Harry I…I…I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for it all. I should have done things differently. Well, hindsight and all. Too smart for my own good, so I've been told before. And well, I'm sorry. I'll be in touch again. Bye." She hangs up the phone and puts both hands over her eyes. Compose yourself she says to herself.

Ruth gets up and goes to one of the computer terminals. She signs into a dummy Gmail account that they use on the Grid. She starts to compose a message in the drafts folder. She writes of the Chinese sick man, of her role with the oxygen tanks, and the talk of the poison. She provides detailed descriptions of the family members. That they mentioned a team of three heading to London to handle the situation. She describes the money. She can't guess the amount, although the stack she took was £ 9,800. She doesn't write the part of her taking the stack of money. At the end she adds that Debra Langham is also on the cruise and that she is hiding from her. She saves the message in the drafts folder. Malcolm will find it.

She feels sad. When she entered the room she was excited that she was going to talk with Harry. She misses him. She goes back to the phone booth and tries his number one more time. Again, it goes to voicemail. She hangs up without leaving a message.

She goes back to the computer and checks the BBC news again. No new stories on the security services scandal. That was good. She gets up and leaves the media room. She heads to the back of the ship to the casual buffet and chooses a tossed salad and two wheat rolls. She can't linger at this dining area anymore, lest she be seen by Debra Langham. She carries her dinner back to her room. She puts the food on the night table and she lies down on the bed.

Where is Harry anyway? He is usually very good about answering his calls. At least her calls, she knows this. If she had her own phone and she called from that she knows that he would have picked right up.

Or she could have sent him a text. They had both just started to get used to using the text features on their phones a few months ago. The section had just upgraded their phone plan and they all got new phones with numerous features and unlimited texting. It was Malcolm that had suggested the use of texting over emails since it used less space on their data plan. The younger members used the texting all the time. She and Harry had practiced with each other. At first, he texted quick questions. 'Where are you?' or 'Do you have that file from yesterday?'. She responded back properly. ' I'm on the bus.' Or 'That file is on your desk.' Then it became a game sometimes.

He would be sitting in his office, literally 20 feet away and her phone would 'bling'. He had sent her a text.

'concert last night?' he texted

'yes, did the Carmina Burana' she sent back.

'where?' he texted.

'the St Vincent Presbyterian church on 4th' she sent back.

'and the acoustics?' he texted.

'not the best, we altos really strained our part' she sent back.

'ah. That was it was then. woke me from a sound sleep' he texted.

She had smiled and shook her head. She looked up and he was smiling back at her from his office.

Then there was that day. She was at her desk, just starting to look into the Thermobaric bomb data. He sent a text. Just one word 'roof'. She could see from the corner of her eye, he was putting on his suit jacket and leaving his office. Not through the pods. He went out the back hallway and to the stairs up to the roof. She waited three minutes, grabbed some files from her desk and headed down the hallway. She too would take the stairs.

When she got there he was leaning over the railing of the building with his back to her. She remembers talking about the Thermobaric bombs. She had thought that was why he summoned her to the rooftop. But then he had just blurted it out. 'Dinner, would you like to have dinner?' She remembers that it caught her off guard. She has replayed and analyzed this moment several times since, it is ingrained in her memory. She smiles remembering it. He had wanted to ask her on a date directly and not on the Grid either. She is happy about this, it means that he is interested in her and not just about work. And he didn't ask her in a text. He was old fashioned. She liked that. She had said yes, that she would love to have dinner with him.

Then she quickly left. She had to process all this. Had Harry just asked her to dinner? Or had she imagined it? Was it one of her daydreams? She was quickly back at her desk. He didn't say when? But he had said he booked a table. She could see from over her computer terminal that he was returning to his office.

Bling. An incoming text from Harry. One word.

'Tonight?' he texted.

'Yes' she responded.

'We'll leave here at 7?' he texted

'Good' she responded.

It was getting close to 7pm. Everyone had already abandoned the Grid. She looked into his office. She had noticed earlier that he had already removed his tie, a normal occurrence for Harry on a busy work day. She was over-analyzing this whole situation. Was this a date? Or was it just a working dinner? She gave up trying to process it all, it was only making her doubt everything. She decided she would sit back, let the night proceed on its own. She was still looking in his office. He caught her eye, smiled, got up from his desk, leaned out and said "Are you ready?"

"Yes," she said.

She shut down her equipment and turned off her light. They exited the grid in separate pods. "I'll have the driver come around front" he said as they passed by the security guards, "the restaurant is only a few blocks from here."

"Great," she said.

"Did you get with Adam about that list of bomb dealers?" he asked.

It was work talk and it had caught Ruth off guard. This was a working dinner.

"Yes, yes. There were about 30 names. Jo and I narrowed it down to about 5 that could possibly be in the London area," she responded. Whew. It was a relief she had thought, it was a working dinner. It put her at ease immediately.

"Good. That's good," he said. The car arrived and Harry held the door for Ruth and then followed her into the back seat. "Thank you Mike," said Harry. That was all, no further instructions so Harry must have talked to Mike earlier about where they were going.

Ruth turns over on her side in her bed. She takes a fist and smashes into the pillow. She hits it again in frustration and in trying to make the single bed more comfortable. She lays her head down. "Stupid" she says aloud to herself. She is mad at herself. Why did she even care what others think? Was there anything really wrong with she and Harry going to dinner? It was a wonderful night. She regrets that she told Harry she wouldn't go to dinner with him again. She regrets it all. She again pretends that he is there in the room with her. He is reaching out for her hand. He climbs into the bed behind her and puts both arms around her. It seems so real.


	14. Chapter 14

Harry takes the elevator from the basement to the ground floor of Thames House. He walks past the front entrance security guards and discreetly flashes his identity card. The guards nod and let him pass. His phone beeps. He quickly retrieves it from his pocket. "Shit!" he says aloud. The guards turn to look at him. He waves them off and quickly makes for the main corridor. There were three incoming missed calls on his phone. One voicemail message. He listens to the message. It's Ruth. He leans against the wall. He replays the message. He replays the message again. He is breathing heavy.

He quickly heads to the Grid. He needs to get to Malcolm to check for a message. They'll be more information there. She'll call again. It is a relief to hear her voice, and yet it is also more troubling. He can hear the trembling in her voice. She is nervous, unsure of herself. And what the hell is she apologizing for? It makes him angry. He is awash with several emotions as he enters the Grid.

"Malcolm! A message from Ruth here," he yells as he waves his phone. "She says there is a message that you'll know how to access it. She's come across some trouble on that ship. Quickly, quickly," he says.

Malcolm sits at his desk and turns to his computer terminal. "It's probably that Gmail account we use. Let me check the drafts folder. Yes. Here it is. There is a message in the drafts."

Malcolm opens the message. Harry, Adam, Jo, and Zaf quickly surround Malcolm. They are all reading the message.

"Ok, Jo get a hold of the passenger list and run down possible identities on these people," says Adam, handing out instructions to the team. "Zaf, I need you to get a hold of Ros. She went over to Six with that information from Ruth's Chinese source this morning. See what she's come up with. Well, Harry, looks like your girl can't let it go, ay?"

"Bloody hell Adam, this is not an operation that we are in control of. We need to find out who these people are and the danger level," he turns, "Malcolm, type a message to Ruth in the drafts. Tell her she's not to initiate any further contact with this group. Tell her to go to her cabin room and lock the door. She's not to come out until the ship docks in New York."

"Hold it, Malcolm," says Adam. "Now that's a little over the top Harry don't you think? It will raise suspicion, she's supposed to be caring for the sick man. Let's give it a couple of hours here to see what we can come up with. Then you can contact our friends across the pond and see if we can seize some money. The ship is due in to New York in about 18 hours. Give me two hours here to pull something together Harry."

Harry runs a hand over his head. He walks toward his office and turns back. He is pacing. "Alright Adam, you've got 2 hours. Malcolm, get word to Debra Langham on that ship. Tell her that Ruth Evershed is an employee in good standing. We don't need her to spot Ruth on that ship and raise an alarm. Tell her there's been a long standing operation in the works and she is not to compromise it. Tell her that Ruth is undercover on that ship and she is not to approach her."

"An employee in good standing? Then it is all fixed Harry?" asks Malcolm hopingly.

"I have to meet with Home Secretary in 1 hour. I have enough evidence to clear Ruth of all wrong doing. This current turn of events is good," Harry admits, relaxing a little bit. "It will be the icing on the cake. We make it look like there was a long term operation targeting Chinese money launderers. And we had to get Ruth out and deep undercover so we took advantage of the Cotterdam scandal to do it. And Adam is right. If we get a money seizure out of this well, the Home Secretary may just give us all a bonus."

The phone rings at Zaf's desk. He picks it up. "I'm on my way," Zaf says into the phone. "It's Ros, she wants me to meet her in Chinatown. She's come across a murder scene."

Harry freezes.

"Let's go," says Adam to Zaf. "Two hours Harry, you said you'd give me two hours." Adam and Zaf head out through the pods.


	15. Chapter 15

Ros closes her phone and leans against the outside wall of the Peking Palace Restaurant in London's Chinatown. Kyle, her associate from Six, is vomiting on the pavement. The scene inside the restaurant is ghastly. Mr. Chow, the MI-5 source, his wife and two restaurant workers bodies are hanging from the kitchen ceiling by meat hooks with their innards sliced open. Blood covers the floor. It looks like a slaughter house. The bodies were still swaying when Ros and Kyle arrived. It was utterly unexpected since Ros had arranged to meet Mr. Chow for a routine debriefing not more than 30 minutes ago.

Earlier, Ros had gone to her previous MI-6 offices to meet with Kyle, who was a fluent Chinese speaker and the resident expert on the Chinese Triad gangs. She gave Kyle the disc that Jo had picked up earlier that the morning from Kensington Park. The disc contained several spreadsheets which appeared to be business records for small electronics, leather accessories, and movies. Kyle suggested that the types of products listed were typically counterfeited in Asia and shipped to markets in the United States, the UK and throughout Europe. A quick look over the spreadsheets revealed profits in the millions.

Kyle noted that this type of criminal activity is associated with the Triad gangs of Hong Kong. These gangs had strong family structures and he said it was extremely rare to get a source into these criminal groups. Therefore, these gangs operated with impunity. There were never any arrests of the top echelon members of the gang. There was the occasional roundup of illegal immigrants in the Chinatowns and the occasional seizure of counterfeit goods. Kyle was pleased to be looking at these records. He asked Ros if he could meet with the source. Ros had agreed to the co-debrief of Mr. Chow since she also wanted to meet with him and discuss better tradecraft that Malcolm had mentioned.

A Lexus pulls up to the front of the restaurant and Adam and Zaf quickly exit the vehicle. As they enter the restaurant, Ros tells Adam and Zaf of Kyle's findings on the disk and the reason that they arranged a meet with Mr. Chow. Adam tells Ros of the information that Ruth provided via email.

Adam scans the scene in the kitchen and quickly exits. He opens his phone and dials.

"Malcolm, is Harry there? Can you put me on the speaker?" he asks.

"Alright Adam, what do you have?" Harry says, both Malcolm and Jo are nearby and listening.

"It seems that Ros has stumbled upon the hit that Ruth warned us about in her email message. This is really a fresh kill here Harry, we can't have missed them by half an hour. I want Malcolm, Jo and any other help we can get to review the camera footage at the Heathrow airport. We are probably looking for three Asian males that arrived from the states within the last 12 hours. We need to identify them quickly before they exit the country. This is a professional hit here Harry. Chow, his wife, the two others here, they were gutted like pigs."

"I've identified the passengers on the cruise ship," says Jo into the phone. "Our Mr. Wong, sick in the bed, is really Li Pixeng, a known underworld figure in New York's Chinatown. The FBI has a file 8 inches thick on this guy and his son MiLi Pixeng. They are involved in counterfeit goods and money laundering. They are also suspects in several unsolved murders in New York's Chinatown. The police have never been able to make an arrest. They list an alias for MiLi as 'the slasher'. I guess he's known to use knives when dealing with his enemies."

"Harry, I'd like you to reach out to your contacts there in the states and make some arrangements," says Adam. "I'd also like to get on a plane as soon as possible in order to meet the QE2 when it pulls into port there in New York. According to Ruth, those are British pounds in the suitcases and I think we should get first crack at it."

"Yes, of course. But let's focus on finding these three murderers here first," says Harry.

"Yes, I agree, that's why Ros, Zaf and I are heading to Heathrow right now. It's the most logical spot for our killers to be heading to. And Harry, of course you'll warn Ruth of the dangers when she calls," says Adam.

"Of course! I bloody wanted to do that earlier! Malcolm type that message!" Harry says exasperated, throwing his hands in the air. "I'm going now to meet with the Home Secretary to clear Ruth's status, I'll make those calls to my overseas contacts, and then I'll head to the airport to meet up with you Adam."

"Sounds like a plan now Harry, and less than the two hours allotted!" says Adam

"Bloody cheek" says Malcolm as he hangs up the phone.

"Malcolm, in that message that you're typing, tell Ruth to call me. Please. Thank you." He says as he quickly heads toward the pods.


	16. Chapter 16

Harry heads to the main entrance of Thames House and exits out the front door. He will walk to his meeting with the Home Secretary. It is only three blocks and he needs some fresh air and time to think. He is worried about Ruth. He wants her off that boat. Not possible. He wants her to lock herself in her cabin. Fat chance she'll do that. He knows Ruth. She is probably pushing this investigation further along. That's what she does. And she is great at it. He can't imagine Section D without her. And this case just proves that to him.

Harry knows that he has a great team, one of the best in the 12 years he has been in charge. He knows that Section D is admired and envied by the fellow security service departments. They handle the most difficult situations and they get the job done. This is why Harry is confident about his meeting with the Home Secretary. After the Cotterdam incident was muddled up by Six and Special Branch, Harry knows that he is owed several favors. And yet this is not a favor, this is the right thing to do. Ruth was maliciously maligned in this incident. Harry is just getting it all straightened out.

He thinks of what Section D will be like when she is back. He pictures her at her desk working. Busy looking at files and computer screens. Chatting with Malcolm. Things will return to normal. Yet, what will she be like to him? He's not sure he wants the old normal. Not those days after working a crisis and then shutting down the computers and Ruth catching a bus home and he being driven to his flat by security. He wants it back the way they were that night that he invited her to dinner.

He had thought at the time that their first date was great. But two days later she was declining a second date with him.

He remembers back to when she had said yes, she would love to go to dinner. He was initially caught off guard, he had almost expected her to brush him off. He made a joke about an old movie and she had laughed. She had walked away before he could set a day and time. He remembers it was a Tuesday. He had thought at first to make plans for Saturday, or Friday maybe. But then he thought my god she said yes, we should go tonight. So he had asked if they could go that night and she said yes. He had called his driver, told him to be out in front of Thames before 7pm and it was just a quick drop at a restaurant not far from the office and then he was dismissed for the evening.

When they got into the car Harry noticed that Ruth was a little nervous. So was he. He talked about work, asked her a work question, to put her at ease and also for the driver's ears. The restaurant was very nice. His daughter had recommended it to him one time. She had had a fancy date there one night and went on and on about it. He had never been before. They were seated in the back of the restaurant in a quiet area. He had veal medallions. Ruth had roasted chicken. They drank wine. They were both very relaxed and spoke on numerous topics. They talked about holidays in Europe and other travel that they had done. He had told her of his big dream holiday of visiting European cities and sitting in cafes. She had made a joke and smiled. The wine was putting them both in a light and flirty mood. He told her that he'd like to take this trip with someone. She flirted back, asked if he had anyone in mind. He painted his description of her. She had flushed. He was intoxicated by her. And then he poured them both some more wine.

After paying the bill, he told her that he let his driver off for the night, yet he would see her to her flat. She accepted. The doorman in front of the restaurant flagged them a taxi cab. They got into the back seat. Harry told the cab driver that there were to be two drops and firstly he provided Ruth's address. They both relaxed back into the seat as the cab pulled away from the curb. And then she had said it. She had said "Harry, that holiday you talked about, through the European cities, it sounds wonderful. I'd like a trip like that someday too."

Harry reached out his right hand and placed it on Ruth's hand which was on her lap. She turned her hand and entwined her fingers through his. She then placed her other hand over both their hands. They smiled at each other, then they both bashfully looked out the taxi cab window.

"We could do this again you know, dinner." He said, more of a statement than a question.

"Yes," she said and nodded.

"Well, think of a place you'd like to go to and let me know. I'll make the arrangements," he said.

They then discussed several different types of food and restaurants that they liked or disliked for the entire cab ride to Ruth's flat. Their hands still joined. When they were approaching Ruth's street Harry asked "How about this Saturday night?"

"This Saturday?" she pondered. "Yes, yes I think that would be ok Harry."

"Good. We're here. I'll just see you to your door," said Harry.

Harry got out and walked around to open and hold the cab door for Ruth. As he shut the cab door she reached for his hand. She led him up the walkway. She dropped his hand to search for her keys in her purse.

"Ruth, I'll be here to get you at 7pm on Saturday. I'll take my own car. Let me know later in the week what restaurant you've decided on," Harry said.

"Yes Harry, 7pm is good. Thank you for tonight, I've had a wonderful evening," she said.

"Yes, me too. I'll just wait till your inside then I'll leave," he said as she opened the door.

She turned to face him. They were gazing deeply into each other's eyes. She reached out and placed her hand on his cheek.

"Thank you, Harry," she said

Harry placed his hand over hers and held it there a moment. Then he turned her hand and placed a kiss on the inside of her palm.

"Goodnight," he said.

In the cab ride back to his flat Harry thought of her hand on his face. It was to Harry, more intimate than any kiss could have been. The evening had ended with such promise of things to come for both of them.

And this is the Ruth he wants back. First stop is the Home Secretary.


	17. Chapter 17

Zaf is driving the Lexus down the M4 heading to Heathrow Airport. Ros is in the back seat and Adam in is the passenger seat typing into his phone.

"Malcolm has a good possible on our guys," says Adam, "they came in at 6am this morning on an American Airlines flight out of New York with no luggage. We'll meet airport security when we arrive at Heathrow and set up a watch for these guys. They all had open tickets so they can get back on any flight. The next flight to New York is in 1 hour. They are not there yet, however they'll most likely not arrive with too much time to spare before a flight so we'll have to be on our game. They could switch airlines too."

"Do we have photos of these meat cutters?" asks Ros.

"Hold on, I'm going to forward the information Malcolm sent to me," says Adam.

"They may switch identities or passports for the return flight," says Ros.

"Yes, that is a good possibility. I have Malcolm and Jo both looking at live Heathrow camera footage as we speak. Malcolm also has software that does a facial recognition. He has set it up on our surveillance cameras throughout the city. He will get a notice if they are spotted," says Adam.

"My, the brilliance of our technology today. Just think of what a man like Harry Pearce could have accomplished with today's technology when he was fighting the evils of the Cold War in Berlin?" says Ros with a biting tone.

"Harry is a master at his craft Ros," says Zaf. "And you won't find anyone more loyal. This situation with Ruth, he would do the same for any one of us. Just stick around a while and you'll find out that for yourself someday."

Adam continues to type into his phone.

"What are you doing?" asks Zaf.

"I'm booking a flight to New York," says Adam.

"So you are going to New York?" asks Zaf.

"No, I'm not going. Harry is going. He just doesn't know it yet," says Adam with a smile.

"Playing Cupid are we now Mr. Carter?" asks Ros.

"No, not Cupid. I'd prefer the title 'Savior of Section D'," laughs Adam as he continues to concentrate on his phone.

"Harry'll never go to New York. He hates the states," says Zaf.

"He's been there before," says Adam. "He's just got a bug up his ass about the cousins, that's all."

"Ok then, 'Savior of Section D', do tell" asks Ros, "what's the plan?"

"Harry is going to meet us at the airport. I'm going to tell Harry that I can't make the trip to New York, that Wes has some game on Saturday that I can't miss. Both of you should also have an excuse ready as to why you won't be able to make this trip either. That'll leave Harry as the only option. He'll get on the flight and hopefully arrive just in time to meet that ship," says Adam.

"And?" asks Ros.

"Well then it's up to him. But I've already instructed Malcolm to tell Ruth that she is to stay discreet there on the ship. Not to blow her cover. And not to exit the ship when it docks. She doesn't have proper papers anyway. The QE2 is due to head back to sea at 6pm that same day."

"And?" asks Ros.

"Well, then if Harry wants to see Ruth, he'll have to get on that boat. He might as well just take the cruise back with her. Four days on the high seas. They have to figure this out, this thing between them. Four days at sea ought to do it. Anyone have a better idea?" ask Adam.

"Just one thing. Harry's not prepared for a four day cruise. We're sending him without luggage, no shaving equipment, clothes…" Ros trails off.

"Well, if he's on a cruise ship with Ruth for four days, I don't think Harry will need any clothes," says Zaf with a smile.


	18. Chapter 18

Ruth is in the media room sitting at a computer terminal reading the draft in the Gmail account. It is Malcolm that has saved a paragraph of information on 3 different occasions. The first message is brief and is a great to hear from you hope you are well message. It also says that the whole team is concerned for her and they are working feverishly to restore her status at MI-5. They will have good news for Ruth shortly, and that Harry just has to meet with the Home Secretary. Mace is no longer a problem and Ruth should not worry, Harry has taken care of that. Debra Langham has been contacted and told not to approach her. She has been told that Ruth is working undercover. The second message left 20 minutes later informs Ruth that they have done some preliminary work on the information that she has sent and they are concerned about the Wong family, which MI-5 has now identified as the Pixeng crime family from New York City. They are dangerous people and Ruth should take extra caution. She shouldn't initiate any more investigation and should keep a low profile in her shift work. The third message said that there were some fast breaking developments in the case and that Adam was planning to go to New York to meet the ship upon arrival. Ruth should remain in place and not break cover. She is further instructed not to leave the ship upon arrival.

Ruth smiles and sighs in relief. For the first time in four days she feels like herself. She is back! She has been gone from the Grid for three days. She didn't know how much she had missed it. She is back! And right in the middle of a major case. She thinks of the information in the Gmail account. She is in an undercover operation. Wonderful! She can read through the message, they are not telling her everything. There has to be a reason for that. The Pixeng's of New York City. It sounds familiar.

Ruth does an internet search on the name. There are several hits with newspaper and magazine articles of the Chinese mafia. The Triads. Ruth thinks about her source, Mr. Chow, in London's Chinatown who had been providing good information lately on the counterfeit good businesses. Mr. Chow owns a restaurant and is well connected in the community. Ruth had developed the source after years of regular visits to the restaurant and engaging him in the native language. He was impressed with Ruth's knowledge of Chinese history and culture. He enjoyed their conversations and looked forward to the visits. Ruth did also. She had made a pitch to him after a violent murder of a Chinatown businessman had occurred. She knew he would have or could get information. He had agreed to help. It had started slowly, the requests for information. Mr. Chow was mostly knowledgeable about criminal business enterprises. Not the typical information that MI-5 would be interested in, but they wanted to keep the source open in case they needed something in the future. If she were back on the grid right now, that is the first place she would start.

Oh well. What could she do here? She would avoid "Frederick" if she could. But the young man and girl, the grandchildren. She might be able to do something there. Search their rooms? There were more suitcases. She should have a look. She needs to get them out of their rooms. "Ah." She says aloud. She types feverishly into the computer. She is breaking into the Cunard Line mainframe. There it is. She issues two € 500 vouchers in the names James Wong and Kim Wong to be used in the ship's casino tonight after 9pm. The vouchers will be printed and delivered to their cabin rooms in the next half hour. That should work.

She'll have to get a key card to open their state rooms. She thinks. Her key card opens her own room and the sick Mr. Wong's room. She remembers the other Wong's and the ship's doctor walking right into the sick room. She hacks back into the Cunard Line mainframe and then into the QE2 security system. She looks at all the key cards assigned to the Wongs and her own card. There are a series of numbers listed on each card. They all have in common one series of numbers. That must be the sick room. Ruth copies and pastes the other series of numbers from each of the cards onto her own card and hits the save button. That should work. She should be able to open all of their rooms.

That's it for now. She gets back into the Gmail account and types up a paragraph about how happy she is that things have been straightened out. She contemplates putting in her idea of searching the rooms, but doesn't. Harry will worry and she was told to stay low. She writes for Malcolm to tell Harry that she will try to telephone him in two hours after her next shift.

Ruth wants back on the Grid so bad it hurts. Section D has been her savior. Her co-workers are like family to her. Truly like family. Her own family was never a source of comfort for Ruth. She was estranged from her mother after she had remarried soon after her father's death. Ruth disliked the family visits on the holidays and made them brief. And while Ruth would talk to her mother on the telephone, she hadn't seen her in two years. She never told her mother where she worked. The family thought that she still worked at GCHQ doing translations. A boring job she had told them and they never asked questions. They had little interest in Ruth. Her mother had become deeply involved in her new husband's family often having long extended stays with them in Manchester. Ruth believes that her mother never loved her father and that Ruth is just a painful reminder. Ruth looks very much like her father with dark hair and her father's eyes.

When Ruth had entered the grid three years ago for an interview she knew she belonged there. She had begged her supervisor at GCHQ for the temporary slot that was open. She had all the skills and more. She had been bored with her job, it was not enough of a challenge for her. At Section D she could use all her skills, the languages, computer skills, her knowledge of foreign cultures and home grown terrorists. She believed the work was meaningful and that she could make a difference in the world. Section D was the prime location. Ruth enjoyed every day that she worked on the grid, no matter how stressful or sad at times. There was nowhere else in the world she would rather be. She was usually the first to arrive and the last one to leave the grid. It had become her home. And she doesn't kid herself either. She loves being there because Harry Pearce is there too.

It didn't take long for Ruth to develop a crush, two weeks she thinks before she started to daydream about him. Ruth always had a crush on someone. Mostly they were fictional characters like Heathcliff or they could be someone totally unattainable like Sean Connery. And now it was Harry.

What did she get herself mixed up in? Ruth is embarrassed by it all. They had gone on one date. Just one date. And Mace had used her as a pawn to get to Harry. The spy business is brutal. Ruth knows this. A good spy will exploit a weakness in order to get at whatever it is that needs to be done. Any weakness. She has seen it done many times before. She has seen her coworkers do it. She has seen Harry do it. She has seen Harry do it to her. But at least at Section D they do it if for the greater good of all. Ruth believes this and has total faith in Harry. And she knows that Harry would do anything for her, and not just her, there is loyalty there for his whole team. She never doubted that Harry would fix this situation she is currently in. She just didn't know how long it would take. But with the emails from Malcolm, it appears that she is all set to return.

Ruth turns her attention back to her computer screen. She enters into the Internet Options and cleans out the traces of the sites and searches she has performed. She shuts down and reboots the computer. It is almost time for her shift with Mr. Wong and she heads to the back of the boat to grab a sandwich. Her appetite is back. She is feeling strong.


	19. Chapter 19

Harry is in the back seat of a Lexus on his way to Heathrow. He just had a short meeting with the Home Secretary who was pleased that arrests are imminent in regards to the violent murders in Chinatown. The gruesome murders are a big story already and it is being carried on all the major news networks. And a money seizure too? Well how wonderful Section D is! What fast work. And a deep undercover operation with Ruth Evershed you say? Yes, it all makes sense. Good work Harry. The meeting was less than five minutes.

Harry opens his phone and dials.

"Harry Pearce here. Yes, could I have a secure line. Yes, to an overseas number. Thank you."

"Good afternoon, Charles Ingram and Armstrong how may I direct your call?" a woman answers.

"Yes, Jim Coaver please. Tell him it's Harry Pearce," says Harry.

"Hold the line please." The woman responds. There are series of clicks. Harry always worries he is being cut off but the call does go through.

"Harry Pearce! My God. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Let me look out the window here. No…no..I don't see any flying pigs. This must be something really good for you to call!" laughs Jim Coaver.

"I don't remember ever mentioning flying pigs. Maybe more like hell freezing over. But I've made my peace with the devil and well, he won't take me, and he won't take you either," says Harry.

"So how are things at Section D, being in charge? Do you miss the old days, doing the grunt work?" asks Coaver.

"Hell no. How about you? How's your desk?" asks Harry.

"Fine just fine. So what can I do for you?" asks Coaver.

"I currently have an officer in a dangerous undercover situation. She is aboard the QE2 cruise ship and heading to New York. The ship is due to dock in about 10 hours. She is posing as a nurse, aiding a sick Chinese American from New York. He is the head of New York's Pixeng crime family. He has been poisoned. The family is bringing him back to New York for treatment. And in retaliation for the poisoning, the family sent a hit squad from New York and murdered four people in London's Chinatown just this morning."

"Wow, sounds fascinating. Tell me more," says Coaver.

"I am sending one of my top officers, Adam Carter to New York to meet that ship. According to my undercover, there are several suitcases filled with cash in their state rooms. British pound notes. I don't know how they expect to get it off that ship. But we are looking to do a seizure of the money and some arrests. We'll need to extradite them back to face charges here in London. We are going to need some help there in New York with the logistics, you know FBI, New York City Police, which ever," says Harry.

"I see, I see," says Coaver. "Ok, let me get with my counterparts over at the FBI and explain the situation. Give me about 20 minutes and I'll call you back. Is this a good number here that is showing on my phone?"

"Yes, that is my cell phone. Call me as soon as you can. My officer will be on a plane shortly and I'd like to give him some direction when he gets there," says Harry.

"Of course," says Coaver, "let me get right on it."

Jim Coaver hangs up his phone. He leans back in his chair and smiles. It's funny sometimes, he thinks, how it all works out in the end. He picks up the phone and dials.

"Hey Bill, yeh Coaver here, you know that operation in St Thomas that you wanted to start but were shot down cause there's no money?" he pauses, "Yeh, yeh, that one. Well, I'm coming into a few suitcases full of British pound notes. Will that help? Will that do it? Ok. I'll be in touch." He hangs up the phone and dials again.

"Yes, Jennifer? Hi, Jim Coaver here. Could you put me through to Mike Waters at the FBI. Yes, I'll hold thank you." He pauses. "Hi, Mike, it's Jim Coaver here at the agency. We have some work for you. Yes Chinese money laundering. This should be easy. Suitcases full of money right now on the QE2 pulling into New York in 8 hours. Hey, that's why I'm calling you! I'm giving you first dibs!" Coaver laughs into the phone. "But, you know that we'll take a cut of the pie too. Hey, it works for everyone," says Coaver. Except for Harry Pearce of course. But Jim knows that Harry would do the same in his position too. It was all just a part of the game.


	20. Chapter 20

Malcolm sits at his desk and reads the draft email that Ruth posted not more than 10 minutes ago.

Bling Bling. A computer at the next desk is on alert. Malcolm and Jo turn directly to it and watch as two Chinese males exit a taxi cab at the curb right outside of the American Airlines terminal at Heathrow. They are looking around and appear to be waiting for someone.

"Adam," Malcolm says into his headset. "We have two of our guys outside the American Airlines terminal right now. They are waiting, could be for the third guy. Go to position 4 on camera 32."

"Right Malcolm," says Adam who is standing in the rather large Heathrow Airport security room. There are multiple television screens with numerous camera views. He tells one guard the camera number to focus on. "Ok, Malcolm good work. We'll take it from here."

Malcolm and Jo watch as another taxicab approaches the curb. The third Chinese male exits the cab. The man reaches into the backseat of the cab and removes two large suitcases. He hands these to one of the men who then proceeds directly into the terminal. The trunk of the cab then pops opens. Four large suitcases are removed from the trunk. Each man carries two suitcases into the terminal.

"Did you get that Adam?" says Malcolm into his headset.

"Got it," says Adam. "We don't want to make a scene here. We are going to let them check the luggage. We'll take a quick look and if it is what we think it is, the same stuff as on that boat, we will take it and make the arrests in the terminal. They would be fools to try to enter this airport with any weapons."

"I'll let you take it from here. Over," says Malcolm.

"I hope it's a lot of money. Things are looking up around here Malcolm, after such a miserable start to this week," says Jo.

"Yes, Harry called and the meeting with the Home Secretary went well. Ruth's status here is restored. Thames House security came by not five minutes ago and brought a box with Ruth's personal things back to her desk," says Malcolm. "I think I'll let her know that," he says as he types into the drafts,"that should make her smile."

"I can't believe Harry still hasn't been in touch with her," says Jo. "Can't she take a phone call on the ship?"

"Seems Harry keeps missing her calls, he's in the basement or meeting the Home Secretary. And if you call the ship, they would post a telegram and deliver it to her room. There are no phones in the third class state rooms," says Malcolm.

"Awful timing those two," says Jo.

"That reminds me, I have to reinforce for Ruth to stay on that ship. She can't leave anyway. She'll never get past customs with that Kathy Lu passport. She'll return the same way she came. I've already made sure that her room is booked for her return or I should say Kathy Lu's return. Let me type that in here, too," says Malcolm as he types in the draft folder.

"Well there's not much more for me to do here. I'm going to head out to the airport," says Jo.

"Great," says Malcolm. "take this with you," he hands her an envelope. "This is Harry's passport, or I should say Harry Lampert's passport. He'll need to take this to travel. Adam has booked the flight in this name. Also in there is his legend for the trip. Harry has used this name before, he's an investment banker. Harry always travels under a legend, he has too many enemies out there."

"Investment banker?" says Jo incredulously. "What the hell does he know about banking? He can barely figure out his pin at the cashpoint."

"Yeh, I know. But Harry is convinced that the topic of investment banking is boring and once he mentions it, people's eyes glaze over and they change the subject to football or something or other."

"Well, whatever works," says Jo.

"Although I think the topic quite interesting. The other day I was scanning the news and came across a great article about the home mortgage rates and…" Malcolm trails off. He realizes that Jo's eyes are glazing over. She puts the envelope in her bag and heads for the pods. Maybe Harry was right the topic is boring.


	21. Chapter 21

Harry is in the back seat of the Lexus just five minutes from Heathrow Airport. His phone rings.

"Harry Pearce," he says.

"Harry, Jim here. I've got it all worked out with the FBI. There will be two agents that will meet your Adam Carter upon his arrival at the airport. They will all then head to the US Coast Guard station and meet with other US Customs inspectors and New York City police about how to proceed with the seizure and warrants," says Coaver.

"Ok," says Harry.

"When the vessel arrives, we'll secure the situation. We'll make sure your officer is ok. And again as you stressed, will not blow her cover. Then we'll pull the bad guys off the boat before the other passengers can even blink an eye," says Coaver.

"Alright Jim, I'll have Carter reach out to you shortly with his flight plans. I'll see him in about 10 minutes. Thank you." Harry hangs up. He scrunches his eyes and twists his mouth. Something is not right here Harry thinks. Coaver is being too congenial.

Jim Coaver is standing in an airline hanger with 3 other men as he hangs up his phone.

"Ok boys," he says. "We've got 1 hour to get to New York. We'll rendezvous with the Coast Guard who will bring us out to the ship. We board her at sea and do our seizure and arrests out there. We're not going to wait for something to go wrong here with 70,000 tons of steel slowly floating into the harbor. We have to strike now."

Coaver and the three men leave the hangar and board an awaiting helicopter.


	22. Chapter 22

Ruth checks the time on the alarm clock next to Mr. Wong's bed. It is 850pm. Jesse should be coming any minute to relieve her from her shift. Ruth has a plan worked out. She will go right to the casino to make sure that James and Kim are there. She wants to make sure they are in there before she breaks into their rooms. She will then quickly head back, she's timed the distance already, 3 minutes. And then she will search their rooms.

"Hi Ruth," says Jesse as she enters the room. "Everything ok?"

"Yes fine. I just changed a tank and there are no other health changes at all," says Ruth.

"Hey thanks Ruth for all you've done for us. The other girls and I were talking about how cool you are. Just deciding at the last minute to take this trip and all. We are going to stay two nights in New York City before catching our flight back to London. We wanted to invite you to stay with us. We plan to do some shopping and go to a Broadway show. None of us have been to New York before."

"Oh, thank you for the offer. I'll think about it," says Ruth. "But I'm not sure about my next move either. I might just stay on the boat and take the cruise back. Try to enjoy it the second time instead of working," says Ruth.

"The girls and I were saying how you've changed lately. You seem more relaxed now. The cruise has probably been good for you too?" asks Jesse.

"Well, I definitely feel better now than I did when you all met me on that tug boat," Ruth says and smiles "I am definitely more myself now."

"Great, and the offer stands Ruth. Think about coming into the city with us," says Jesse as Ruth heads toward the door.

"I will, and tell the others I said thank you too." Says Ruth.

Ruth closes the cabin door and quickly heads for the casino. There is work to be done.

As she arrives at the casino entrance she notices that all three Wongs are there. She quickly leaves the area before they can notice her and heads back.

She is still in her medical scrubs, they provide a good cover. Anyone in the hallway will think she is working with the sick patient. The corridor is empty. She slides the key into Kim's room first. Green light. She enters. She quickly glances around the room. There are two dresses laid out on the bed and the bathroom light is on. Ruth heads for the closet near the bed. She opens it and sees four suitcases, similar in style as the suitcases in Mr. Wong's room.

She takes out one suitcase, it also is locked. She locates the key in the side pocket and unzips the bag. British pound notes. Lots of them. She had decided earlier that she would take three bundles of cash from each bag as samples. She believes that this small amount would not be missed on a cursory look. She will bring the samples back to her room to count. She will then do an estimate on the amount of total cash in the bags and alert her colleagues back at the grid as to her findings. She moves quickly as she removes bags, unlocks them, and removes bundles of cash. She has brought a trash bag with her to hold the cash. She believes the trash bag is good cover also since many see her as a worker on the ship and it would not be out of place. She looks at the clock on the nightstand. She has been in the room 12 minutes. She has to move quicker.

She leaves Kim's room. She observes no one in the corridor. She enters James's room. The room is neat. Is he even living in here? She heads right for the closet. There are eight suitcases stuffed into this closet. "Christ" says Ruth in a whisper. She removes the top bag and three other suitcases come falling out with it. "Damn it" she whispers. She unlocks the first case and removes three bundles of cash. She then removes three bundles of cash from each of the other three suitcases that fell out of the closet. She decides not to go any further. She has to put these cases back the way they were and it may take some time. Ruth struggles to get the cases back in the closet, but she does it. "You're a born spook" she says to herself. She grabs her trash bag and heads for the door. The bag is heavy.

In the corridor she is concerned that the trash bag looks bulky and may raise suspicion. She sees the linen closet at the end of the corridor and heads for it. There is a linen hamper on wheels. She puts the trash bag into the hamper and places some towels over it. She wheels the hamper to the elevator and hits the down button. The elevator doors open and Frederick exits. He smiles at Ruth. She smiles back.

"How is my father tonight?" he asks. "I was just going to see him."

"Oh, he is fine. Jesse is with him now," says Ruth.

"Thank you again for all that you are doing for him. Have a good evening," says Frederick as he heads down the corridor.

"Thank you." says Ruth. She enters the elevator and hits the lowest level and lets out a sigh.


	23. Chapter 23

Frederick enters his father's state room. Jesse is sitting in a chair next to Mr. Wong's bed.

**_(Chinese in italic font)_**

_"How is he tonight?"_ asks Frederick.

_"Oh, just fine. No changes," a_nswers Jesse.

_"All of you assistants have been very good with my father. I am pleased with your agency. It was such short notice that we asked for four Chinese speaking medical assistants. I thought if my father woke up he would need to speak with someone. His English is not that good. At least I got three Chinese speakers," _says Frederick.

_"Oh, well Kathy Lu the white girl also speaks Chinese. Quite good in fact. More of an educated tone. She said she had learned at university and that her uncle had been a missionary to China in the 1950's,"_ says Jesse.

_"Really? I had just assumed,"_ says Frederick. He thinks back to what he had said in the room with his children about the poison and the money. Well, he hoped it was not overheard. She probably wasn't paying attention. She seemed innocent enough. He walks to the closet and opens it. Everything is there, four suitcases, nothing out of place.

_"Well, thank you again and goodnight,"_ says Frederick as he leaves the room. He thinks again to what was said in the room with Kathy Lu. He has been in this family business all his life, he was born into it. He has had many brushes with the law but has always walked away untouched. He will have to think of a way to test Kathy Lu, to see what she might know.


	24. Chapter 24

Harry enters the Heathrow airport security room. Adam and Ros are watching the security cameras.

"What do we have?" asks Harry.

"These inbreeds here are checking their luggage now. They are booked for an American Airlines flight that leaves in one hour. Zaf is down there with the London city police and Scotland Yard. Once the bags go down the belt, they'll open them and see what's inside. We're assuming loads of money at this point. We'll make the arrest for strictly money laundering and bring them in for questioning. There is a lot of DNA evidence at the murder scene so there shouldn't be too much trouble linking them to the crime," says Adam.

"I've been in touch with Jim Coaver, my contact. He says that he's arranged for his counterparts at the FBI to meet you upon your arrival in New York. Have you scheduled a flight yet? We need to get that info to Coaver. I'm assuming you'll be taking representatives from Scotland Yard and the London detectives with you?" asks Harry.

"Ah, yes, Scotland Yard and the London detectives are in," says Adam.

"Good, they can work it out among themselves with the American legal system," says Harry.

"Adam?" the communications radio from Zaf interrupts them.

"Yes, go ahead Zaf," says Adam into the radio.

"We just opened the bags. They are loaded down with cash. I've never seen anything like it. There has to be over four million pounds here," says Zaf.

"Ok, that's great. Let's go with plan B. We've got them on screen now, they are heading to the security point. We'll have them stopped before they get there," says Adam.

They watch the monitors as uniformed security approach the suspects from behind. They are quickly surrounded and placed under arrest without incident.

"Well done Adam," says Harry.

"Yes, well done. This ought to make our Home Secretary happy," says Adam.

"Yes, I briefed him not long ago. Everything is all set with Ruth also," says Harry looking down.

Jo enters the security room.

"Ah, here you are. Just in time. Interested in helping Zaf count some money?" asks Adam.

"Sure, I'd love to see it all. Pretend it's mine for a bit, dream about what I would do if it were!" says Jo as she hands the envelope with Harry's passport to Adam.

"Well, don't get too attached," says Adam.

"Right," says Jo as she leaves the room.

"Harry, there is a slight change in plans," says Adam. "Seems we have some serious questioning to do here with the suspects and I'd like to be in on that. And Wes has a football match tomorrow. Zaf and Jo are going to be busy with all that counting and Ros has an important meeting with Six tomorrow on that new Pakistani information. So I thought it best that you travel to the States and meet the ship," he says as he pushes the envelope into Harry's chest. "Here are your travel documents, you'll be Harry Lampert. You, the two detectives from Scotland Yard and one from London city police will all be traveling on British Airways flight #67, it leaves in one hour. The police can handle all the details on the arrests, you should be there for Ruth."

Harry looks Adam straight in the eye. Adam is serious and returns his steady gaze.

"You need to be there Harry. You need to figure something out so this doesn't happen again. Take some time. Christ, Harry I've been in Section D for two years now and have never seen you take one day off. Maybe that's all you need is some time alone so that you two can sort something out," says Adam, still holding Harry's gaze.

Harry looks down at the envelope. He pauses.

"Yes, of course, you're right," says Harry as he nods his head.

Adam extends his right hand to Harry. They shake.

"But bloody hell, New York," says Harry

"Hey cheer up, the weather there is bound to be better than London" laughs Adam.


	25. Chapter 25

Ruth sits in a chair in her stateroom. There is cash spread out across the bed. She is unwrapping the stacks of money and separating them into piles of each bill denomination. As she does this she is keeping a running total in her head. She grabs the last stack and separates the bills. She reaches a final tally of £175,840. She then goes back to the stacks on the bed and counts again. She reaches the same total. Each packet of money had contained different denominations and the money was not in any order. She tried to figure out a reason for the apparent randomness of the packets, but there wasn't any, leading her to conclude that the money was packaged in haste.

She retrieves Kathy Lu's suitcase from her closet and places all of the cash into it. It fills the suitcase and Ruth has to sit on the case so that she can zip it shut. She places the case back into the closet. She smiles. She loves this job. There are over 2,000 people on this ship right now enjoying their holiday oblivious to the intrigue around them. Ruth feels special. This is her world, the world of a spook. She is a world class spy working for MI-5. She couldn't be happier. She leaves the room and heads to the elevators. She's headed to check the email folder in the media room.

Ruth takes the elevator to the main deck. It is almost 11pm on the final night of the cruise and the ship is a bustle of activity. There are events scheduled late into the evening, including a midnight chocolate buffet. There are lots of passengers milling about, dressed in their evening attire and enjoying their final night. Ruth takes the corridor that leads to the media room. She sees Frederick walking toward her.

**_(Chinese in italics)_**

_"Good evening Ms. Lu "_ he says to Ruth in Chinese. _"I see you are out late enjoying the last night on the cruise."_

Ruth doesn't hesitate. She replies to him in English "Yes, the final night. The other girls have the shift for the rest of the evening. I was heading to the media room to check my email messages. Just reaffirming plans with friends for tomorrow's arrival."

_"I didn't know that you spoke Chinese. I had made a bad assumption. Forgive me,"_ he says.

Ruth is maintaining a light hearted aloof approach to Frederick. How does he know that she speaks Chinese? It must be from one of the other girls. She remains calm.

"Oh. No harm taken. I've just been pre-occupied with my own worries lately. I had to schedule a flight right back to London when we arrive in New York. My mother has taken ill and it would be best if I get back as soon as possible. She has never had health problems, yet a neighbor found her lying on the ground outside her flat and called an ambulance and then I'm away on this trip…ugh…one thing after another," says Ruth.

_"Oh, I'm sorry to hear this news of an ill parent. I know just how you feel," s_ays Frederick.

_"Yes, and my major study at university was Chinese. I do like to practice,"_ says Ruth in Chinese. She says this to him slowly and twitches her eyes a bit, as if she is trying to concentrate on what she is saying. _"Just that my mind has been elsewhere." _

_ "Yes of course, well, enjoy your evening Ms. Lu,"_ says Frederick

_"Goodnight,"_ says Ruth.

Ruth enters the media room and sits at a computer terminal. She accesses the Gmail account and reads the last message from Malcolm. She signs out and goes right to a phone booth. She dials Harry's number. It goes directly to his voicemail, his phone is shut off or he is on the phone. She leaves a message.

"Harry, just me again. Malcolm told me the good news about my job. Thank you. I don't even know how to say this but," she pauses "I, I feel like myself again. If that's a good thing, uhm, I'm not sure," she laughs slightly. "Well, the ship should be in port in about 8 hours. It'll be good to see Adam here, a face from home. I've just done a few small things here, nothing dangerous. I'll try to reach you again. Bye."

She hangs up the phone. She misses him terribly. She wants to hear his voice. He does not have a voicemail greeting on his phone just the computer generated voice to leave a message. She goes to the computer terminal and signs back into the Gmail. She types a message for Malcolm that she is safe and that she will keep a low profile and will not break her cover. She gripes that she would rather return on a flight, yet will do as she is told and remain on the ship. She signs off and erases the internet history.

Frederick has been standing outside the media room observing all of this behavior. Kathy Lu signing onto the computer. In haste moving to make a short phone call. Then back to the computer. He sees that she does have a melancholy hue to her. It is probably true, thinks Frederick. Lots of last minute plans and a sick relative. He leaves the area and heads to his room.


	26. Chapter 26

Harry is standing in the British Airway terminal gate area. He retrieves his phone from his coat pocket and dials Jim Coaver. It goes to voicemail.

"Coaver. It's Harry. Change of plans. I will be coming to New York with three detectives assigned to this case. We're getting on a British Airways flight right now and will be getting in your time about 7am. That should be an hour before the ship's arrival so that we can work out some logistics. I'm traveling under the name Harry Lampert." Harry hangs up his phone. The phone beeps, there is a voicemail. "Shit." He says. He retrieves the voicemail from Ruth. He smiles. Her voice sounds more relaxed. She still thinks that Adam is coming. Adam probably planned it this way. Adam is his lead officer and Harry knows that he is looking out for Harry and of course for Section D. He is thinking of Adam's words, 'sort something out'. He has eight hours on a plane to think of something to sort out with Ruth. He knows it can't go back to the way it was.

He opens the envelope and looks inside. There are two passports. He pulls them both out and opens them. One is his fictitious passport in the name Harry Lampert. The second passport is Ruth's picture yet with the name Ruth Lampert. He smiles. He looks further into the envelope there are several typed pages putting forth a legend for the Lamperts. This will make for good reading on the plane thinks Harry. He keeps his passport out and puts Ruth's passport and the other the papers back in the envelope.

He approaches the gate attendant and hands over his ticket and passport. He is the last passenger to board the plane. He enters the ramp and the gate attendant shuts the door behind him.


	27. Chapter 27

Adam is at his apartment looking in the refrigerator trying to find something to eat. He pulls out the orange juice and places it on the counter. He picks up his mobile phone and dials.

"Yes, Jim Coaver please. I'll wait," there is a pause.

Jim Coaver is in New York at the cruise port terminal. His phone rings.

"Sure put him through," says Coaver.

"Hello Jim, my name is Adam Carter. I work with Harry Pearce," says Adam.

"Yes, yes, he's mentioned you. So Harry's coming to New York?" asks Coaver.

"That's right with some detectives. They should get there in plenty of time before the ship arrives," says Adam.

"Well, there's been a slight change of plans here Adam. I know Harry's not going to like it but it's out of my hands now," says Jim.

"What's the trouble?"asks Adam.

"Well, you see we've been briefing the Coast Guard on this situation and they don't like it one bit. They say that these cash smugglers are constantly using the cruise ships for this kind of stuff. They know they can't get this cash through the Customs inspectors when they come into port so a few miles off shore they dump the bags into the sea. They put tracking devices in the bags and then they are picked up by small fishing boats. They say this happens all the time. And crazy enough, sometimes these bags full of cash get washed up on the beaches in Long Island! Wouldn't I like to be there for that Adam, have one them come floating into me!" laughs Jim.

Adam doesn't like this. He feels he is being had. "Alright, so what's the plan?" he asks.

"Well it's the Coast Guard, and it's their playground out there Adam, they're the ones calling the shots. We're going out to sea and meet the ship soon. They're just fueling up their own vessel right now making sure everything is a go. We're going to make it to look like that old sick Mr. Wong took a turn for the worse and we are going to remove him and fly him back to New York for treatment. We'll take the whole family and their suitcases. We don't want to alarm the other passengers. It should go smoothly," says Jim.

"We have an officer there," says Adam.

"Yes, yes and Harry was adamant her safety is number one. She's posing as a nurse?" asks Coaver.

"Yes, that's right. She's been instructed not to break cover. She'll do fine. This is just unexpected and I don't think that I can get word to her to let her know about these changes in plans," says Adam.

"Hey listen, this going to be easy. We go in and do our thing and we're out of there. This will all be done before Harry Pearce even sees the New York skyline from the plane," says Coaver.

"Alright, keep me posted. I want to know how it all works out," says Adam.

"Of course, I'll call as soon as everything is secured," says Coaver.

Adam hangs up his phone. Bloody Americans changing the plans, doing their own thing. Ah, it's so expected Adam just sighs. He knows Ruth will be fine.

Jim Coaver hangs up his phone. "Ok boys, let's get this show on the road," he says. Coaver heads up the plank of a large Coast Guard ship followed by ten other men, some in suits and some in official police uniforms.


	28. Chapter 28

Harry is sitting in business class on the plane. He has taken off his jacket and rolled his sleeves up to his forearms. He is drinking his second Johnnie Walker Black on the rocks. He opens the envelope and removes the typed pages of his legend and he reads. He is Harry Lampert. He is an investment banker for Barclays of London. Prior to this, he had his own insurance agency that was bought out by the bank. He is a very wealthy man. He is a workaholic. He has been in New York for a five day business conference on security practices in the banking industry. He is married to Ruth Lampert. They have been married for three years. They have no children. It is the first marriage for both of them. Ruth works at the Museum of Natural History in London. She is an expert on Chinese artifacts. She has a fear of flying. She has taken the QE2 from London to New York to meet her husband at the conclusion of his conference. They will both return to London on the QE2 together. This will be their first holiday in three years.

"Would you like another drink sir?" asks the flight attendant.

"Yes, please" says Harry.

He looks into the envelope and pulls out another piece of paper. This is an itinerary for passage on the QE2 from New York to London for the Lamperts with a listed cabin number. He leans back in his chair and sighs. He has no suitcase, no clothes, no shaving equipment. He rubs his hand across his chin. He has a great deal of stubble already. "I'll be a mess" he says under his breath. He sips the scotch. He takes the envelope and looks inside, there is small sealed envelope at the bottom. He tips the envelope upside down and the smaller one falls onto his tray. He opens it. There are three rings. A wedding ring for him and two rings for Ruth. He smiles as he slides the wedding band onto his finger. He places the papers and the other two rings back into the envelope.

He leans back into his chair and looks at his left hand with the wedding band. Would she have him? This legend was already assuming a lot. He wonders if the others on the team think that he and Ruth have already slept together. What will Ruth think about this?

Harry closes his eyes. He should try to get some sleep. But he thinks of Ruth. He thinks of that second date that he had been planning. He was ready to move things along. He cared deeply for Ruth. He had wanted to take her to a nice restaurant and then perhaps go for a walk together. He liked walking with Ruth. They would have had time to talk. He was planning on asking her if she wanted to have more of a relationship with him, outside of work. He would have told her that that was what he would like, but he realizes he is her boss and didn't want to overstep his boundary. That's what he had planned to say to her. But then she had changed her mind about the second date. So he had backed off. At Heavensworth he had hoped to have had some time to talk about it with her but she had avoided him the entire trip. Then this whole Cotterdam thing.

Harry opens his eyes. Thinking about Mace and Cotterdam makes him angry. He drinks down all the scotch. Why did they have to go after Ruth? Harry thinks that he would not have done that in any operation. Maybe. But what changes now? Would he ever be able to protect Ruth from others trying to target him? This thought worries him. He's always distanced himself from his children to protect them. They even have his ex-wife's last name. Should he stay away from Ruth to protect her too?

"Would you like another drink sir?" asks the flight attendant.

"Yes please," says Harry.

Harry closes his eyes. He practices what his reunion with Ruth will be like. He knocks on her door. She opens the door and smiles, she is happy to see him. He steps in and puts his arms around her and he holds her tight. She kisses him and he tells her that he loves her. That they should be together forever.

"Sir, Sir? Your drink?" says the flight attendant.

"Yes of course, thank you," says Harry as he takes he drink. He reclines back in the chair.

He closes his eyes and tries to rest as he dreams of holding Ruth in his arms.


	29. Chapter 29

Ruth is lying down in her bed trying to sleep. It is about 2am. There is no way in hell anyone can get used to the sound of the humming of the ship's engines she thinks as she lies there. Ruth's room is located among the staff quarters, so not the best. And then there is a noise, almost like a boom of a cannon shot. The ship's engines stop immediately. All is quiet. This is strange. Ruth gets out of her bed and goes to open the cabin door. Others are already in the corridor looking around too. Ruth goes back into her room and dresses into her medical scrubs. She heads to the elevator, it is working. She takes it to the main deck. There are lots of passengers around, still dressed in proper attire and enjoying their evening.

Ruth walks out on the deck. There is a large United States Coast Guard vessel at the bow of the ship. It has shot flares into the air and lit up the sky, the sea, and the QE2. It is amazing the amount of light there is from the flares.

"What's going on?" she asks a fellow passenger.

"I'm not sure, but I heard one officer say something like they are going to board us. Whatever that means," says the man.

Quite a crowd starts to form around them on the deck looking out at the Coast Guard vessel which was lowering two smaller boats from the side.

"I've been taking cruises for over 20 years," says an older man "and nothing like this has ever happened before. Never even heard of something like this at sea."

The two smaller Coast Guard vessels work their way to the stern of the QE2 and have bright spot lights pointing at the ship.

"Well, they got us surrounded now!" says the older man. This brought several laughs from the crowd.

There is an announcement on the QE2 paging system.

"Attention passengers. Attention passengers. The United States Coast Guard has advised that they will be boarding our ship for an arising medical issue that is requiring immediate attention. This will be a short delay and we will resume travel shortly."

A third boat is being launched from the larger Coast Guard ship. This one travels directly to the QE2. Ruth sees about five men board their ship. This could all be about Mr. Wong, perhaps something has happened to his health. She decides to head to his room just in case they need her assistance.

She takes the stairs to the first class cabin area and enters the corridor. Suddenly she is grabbed from behind forcefully. There is a knife at her throat. It is Frederick.

"This is you. This is your planning. Who are you?" he demands.

"I don't know what you're talking about, they said it was a medical emergency, I assumed there was a change in your father's condition. Why do you have a knife on me?" says Ruth trying not to panic.

The elevator doors open and Jim Coaver steps out with four other men.

"What's going on here?" says Coaver in a soft calming voice. "Why don't you let the nurse go. I know things seem a little strange right now with the late night arrival of medical help but we are here to help Mr. Wong," Coaver is slowly walking towards Ruth and Frederick.

"I don't know what's going on here. You are not doctors! We didn't ask for any help! This is all lies!" yells Frederick as he backs up with Ruth in front of him.

Ruth realizes that Frederick is in a panic. She gives a nod to Jim Coaver and with that she bites down on Frederick's arm. Coaver lunges toward them and hits Frederick in the side of the head. Both Frederick and Ruth fall to the ground followed by Coaver. The four other men pile on top and get control of Frederick. They all slowly get up, with Coaver pulling Ruth up by the hand.

"They teach you that in nursing school?" he says to Ruth.

She smiles. He smiles. "Are you ok?" he asks.

"I think so. Yeh, I'm fine." She brushes herself off.

Frederick is being held against the wall and appears groggy.

"Alright, two of you get him out of here," says Coaver. The elevator doors open and there are uniformed officers arriving. There are also QE2 ships officers starting to fill the corridor. Jim Coaver starts to issue orders.

"OK, cruise personnel we are going to get the sick Mr. Wong on a stretcher and take him to the Coast Guard vessel. We are also taking passengers Kim Wong and James Wong and Frederick Wong and all of their luggage. We appreciate all of the help."

The corridor is a bustle of activity. Coaver pulls Ruth into the stairwell.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jim Coaver. Harry Pearce sent me," he says.

"Oh. I didn't know," says Ruth.

"Well there was a change in plans. We were afraid they might toss the money off the boat so we thought to come out and get it. A little too cowboyish for Harry Pearce's taste. But he'll get over it," says Coaver with a wink. "This was great undercover work you did. You really look like a nurse." He smiles and Ruth smiles. "If Pearce ever overworks you and you need a change, give me a call. Always looking for good help around here," he laughs.

"Thanks," says Ruth.

"Well, I know you're instructed to not break cover. We are here officially because of the medical emergency. The staff and passengers will have no word of what went on here," says Coaver. "We should be out of here shortly. It has been a pleasure to meet you. And when you see Harry, tell him I said hello, and tell him to relax will you? That guy is wound tight!" says Coaver with a laugh. He leaves Ruth in the stairwell.

Ruth heads down the stairs and back toward her room. She is smiling. How exciting this all was. My god Frederick had a knife to her throat! She loves her world of spies. She feeds off of it. She gets to her room and remembers the suitcase of money in her closet. Too late now to give it to Jim. She will just bring it back with her to London.

Ruth lies down in the bed for awhile and tries to rest. She can't. She gets up and heads out of her room to the media room. She sits in a phone booth and dials Harry. It goes straight to voicemail. She doesn't leave a message. She dials the inside line at the forgery suite at the Grid. It is early morning someone should be in.

"Hello?" it is Malcolm.

"Malcolm, it's Ruth," she says.

"Oh it is wonderful to hear your voice! My dearest how are you? Are you in New York yet?" he asks. He also waves to Adam to indicate that he has Ruth on the phone. Adam approaches.

"No, not yet just a few more hours. But I just wanted to let you know that we had a visit on the ship tonight," says Ruth.

"Yes, we know all about it. Adam's here, let me put him on the phone," says Malcolm.

"Adam's there. I thought he was coming to New York?" says Ruth sounding disappointed.

"Change of plans, here he is, he'll explain," says Malcolm.

"Ruth, I'm so glad you called," says Adam.

"Adam, I thought you were coming to New York?" asks Ruth.

"Well there was a change of plans. And that blasted Jim Coaver called me not more than 20 minutes ago thanking me for a wonderful operation. Seems they seized almost four million pounds. And how sorry he is that he has to cut us out of the pie since the seizure was in US territorial waters or some other bullshit like that. I'm sure Harry will fight him on that, but we probably won't get any of that money back here. But, just so you know, we did seize some money here in London, so not all is lost. We'll brief you on all that when you get back," says Adam.

"Where is Harry? I've tried to reach him several times," asks Ruth in a concerned voice.

"Um, he's around somewhere Ruth. I know that he was really busy getting you cleared back here and now that's all done. I don't think he slept a wink in the last four days. He's been very worried about you. We all have been. It'll be great to see you," says Adam.

"Yes, I can't wait to see you all too. Adam, why can't I fly back?" asks Ruth.

"You have no legitimate papers to even leave that ship Ruth. So don't! Malcolm's arranged that same room for you. We would like to have upgraded your room but the ship has been sold out for months. Besides I think you should enjoy your cruise back. Relax, take in a show. Read a good book. Sit in one of these hot tubs on that top deck," laughs Adam.

"Ok, will do. Tell Harry that I'll call when I get to New York," says Ruth.

"Of course. And congratulations Ruth, that was a job well done," says Adam.

"Thanks Adam," says Ruth.

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

She hangs up. That blasted Jim Coaver! Nothing is ever as it seems. Good thing she didn't give him her suitcase. She smiles. No one knows that she has that money. No one.

She heads back to her room and lies down and tries to sleep. She pretends that Harry is lying next to her, his arm around her waist. She is determined that when she gets back to London she is going to change things between them. She won't wait for Harry to ask her out again. She will ask him out. She won't wait five minutes after he comes in the door onto the Grid. She is going to go right to his office and just ask him "Harry, would you like to go to dinner with me this week sometime? I have a place I think you might like." Hopefully, he'll say yes.


	30. Chapter 30

Harry is walking through the terminal at LaGuardia Airport having just got off his flight. It is 7am. He sees Jim Coaver with several other men. Harry gathers the London detectives and motions them toward Coaver.

"Hello Harry!" says Coaver with a big grin. He extends his hand and they shake.

"Why do I feel like I just got pick-pocketed," says Harry.

"Well, probably because you did. So, I've got a conference room over here where we can all meet and discuss things," says Coaver.

They all enter a large conference room. Coaver explains the arrests and seizures that happened on the ship earlier. Harry doesn't blink when Coaver talks of a knife to the nurse's throat. After both sides brief their stories, the detectives agree to meet and discuss the court options. Harry gets up from the table and dismisses himself.

"Hang on there Harry, I'll walk you out," says Coaver. Harry is heading for the terminal exit. "Hey listen there's a bar over on 3rd Avenue I'd like to take you to. Whiskeys from all over the world. What do you say?"

"Not interested is what I say. But, perhaps another time," says Harry

"You're not mad about this money thing are you?" asks Coaver.

"No, not really, and it's not a surprise either. I half expected it. My number one concern was…" says Harry trailing off.

"I know, I know the safety of your officer. All taken care of there. She's a good one you got there Harry. Special to you?" asks Coaver with a wink.

"Yes." Harry says looking Coaver directly in the eye. "Special."

"Ok, I understand. Well it's 9am now," says Coaver looking at his watch "the ship should have been in for about an hour. How about I get you over to the cruise terminal right away? We'll talk old times on the drive over," says Coaver.

"Thank you," says Harry.


	31. Chapter 31

Ruth is standing on the main deck watching the last passengers leave the ship. Cleaning crews are busy all over. The bars, restaurants, and stores are being restocked. The new passengers will be boarding in just a few hours.

She thinks of what Adam had said about enjoying the cruise back to London. She turns and walks into the main reception area. There are several crew members putting up posters that list the events for the cruise. Ruth reads the posters and decides to sign up for a whiskey/scotch tasting being held that second night. She smiles and thinks of Harry. She then signs up for a karaoke contest. The winner sings with the jazz band on the final night of the cruise. She hasn't been to choir practice in weeks, this would be good exercise for her. She also signs up for an historical tour of the ship. She then heads to the concierge table and lists herself to be on the first seating for the formal dinners. What was she going to wear? She has been wearing Kathy Lu's clothes for a week.

She thinks of the cash in the suitcase. She decides that she will spend some of it on new clothes for herself. She goes to her cabin and retrieves € 3,000 from the suitcase. The stores on the ship carry everything that a passenger would need. The store clerks are restocking but they allow her to shop anyway. The selection is limited, which works for Ruth and she decides on three dresses for her formal dinners. She picks out two pairs of jeans, two pairs of khaki pants, and a pair of black slacks. She selects eight tops and two sweaters, 10 pairs of underwear, 5 bras and an assortment of socks. She doesn't try on any of her purchases since she doesn't want to bother the clerks. She also buys a new rolling suitcase to put all her things into. She enters a duty free shop and purchases six bottles of Dom Perignon and with this selects fancy QE2 gift bags, one for Harry, Adam, Zaf, Malcolm, Jo, and Ros. These will be delivered to her upon arrival in England. That will be a nice memory for the team. She feels happy. Maybe Adam was right, she should enjoy this trip. She heads to her cabin with her suitcase full of new clothes.

Ruth is in her room removing the tags from her purchases and trying on her new clothes. She likes the way they look. She realizes that she still needs to buy some shoes. She is checking out her figure in one of her new dresses in the mirror when there is a knock at her door.


	32. Chapter 32

Harry knocks at Ruth's cabin door. It seems like forever before she appears. The door opens and Ruth is standing there. She is beautiful. Harry is speechless.

"Harry, are you real?" she asks as she reaches out with her right hand and places it on his chest. She is mystified. She has been dreaming of Harry on the ship with her for days and now he is here.

"Yes," he says hoarsely "I'm real." He wraps his hand over hers and he pulls her to him with his other arm. Her face is buried into his chest.

"Harry," she lifts her head up to look at him. She moves her hand to touch his face. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He buries his head into her neck. He is overcome with emotion.

"I needed to see you. I needed to see you Ruth," he whispers into her neck. "I had to hold you."

Ruth's hands are behind his neck and her fingers reach up to touch his hair.

"Harry, I can't believe you're here," she says in a half sob. She is crying.

"We're a pair the two of us here. Will you invite me in before the neighbors talk?" He says as he lifts his head from her neck.

They step into her room and shut the door. Harry pulls her to him and again buries his head into her neck. He is holding her tight.

"Ruth, what would I have done without you?" he says into her neck.

She knows he is talking about her leaving him on the dock that morning. She feels the weight of his body leaning on her. The hold he has on her is so tight she can't move. And she feels his two day beard growth on her neck. She knows that he has been going through hell since she left.

"Harry, I knew you'd find me. I knew you would fix things. I, I just didn't know how long it would take. Everything had happened so quick, I didn't know what else to do." She says through tears.

"Don't ever leave me Ruth," he says into her neck. "We would have found another way. Together. Just, please Ruth, don't ever leave." He kisses her neck.

"No, Harry, no, I'll never leave again." She says as she pulls away slightly from his tight embrace. She wants to look him in the eyes. He moves from her neck. He places his forehead onto her forehead. She feels his weight into her.

"Tell me everything Ruth. I need to know what happened, to know that you're ok." He says hoarsely. Ruth can tell Harry has had no sleep in days.

"I'm fine Harry," she places both her hands on his face and forces him to look at her, "I'm fine." He smiles.

"Jim Coaver told me that the head of New York City's Chinatown Mafia held a knife to your throat," says Harry. He takes his right hand and feels her throat and then returns his arms tight around her.

"Well, I guess that's not an exaggeration when you put it that way," says Ruth. She smiles and lets out a chuckle through her tears.

"Tell me everything Ruth, I want to hear it all," says Harry and he buries his head into her neck again. "I need to hear it all." She's never seen him like this.

"Well, here Harry" she says as she grabs his hand from her back. "Take off your coat." He takes off his coat and she places it on the chair. She motions for him to sit on the bed and she sits beside him. They both move up the bed so they are sitting with their backs against the headboard. Ruth fluffs up the pillows and places them behind them. Harry puts his right arm around Ruth's shoulder and grabs her left arm and pulls her into a tight embrace.

"Ok. Where should I start?" she asks.

"When you left on the tug boat, start from there Ruth." He says as he places his chin next to her head right above her ear.

Ruth tells Harry her story. He sometimes stops her to ask questions. Then Ruth asked that he tell her his story, what he had been doing in London. And he did. He told her about everything. About Mace resigning, the scandal, her reinstatement, Mr. Chow's murder, and the cash seizure.

"Ruth, it's all fixed and it worked out right. But I want you to know that if it hadn't worked, if I hadn't been able to get everything right, that I still would have come for you. You're more important to me than anything," he says.

"Harry" she says and she lifts a hand to his face.

"Would that have been alright Ruth? If I had come for you? Would you have me?" They are looking into each other's eyes. "No one knows me better than you. You're all I think about. I don't know what I'd do without you." he says as he looks into her eyes. "Will you have me?"

"Yes, Harry," she says.

"Ruth, I promise my best to keep you safe. What happened with Cotterdam, it could happen again if someone tries to get to me by going after you. But I need you with me Ruth. Together we'll figure it all out, ok? Together. " he says. "Am I worth the risk?" he asks.

"Yes, Harry. I can't see myself anywhere but with you," she says. "I love you."

"I love you too," says Harry. "But it's more than that Ruth. I don't how to say it except that it's everything. You're everything."

Ruth leans into Harry and kisses him on the lips. They break away and smile at each other. They close their eyes and kiss again. Ruth's hands explore the back of Harry's neck. Harry pulls back and kicks off his shoes. He moves a bit down the bed and Ruth joins him. They are exploring each other's mouths and their hands wander around each other's bodies.

"Harry," says Ruth as she leans back and takes a break for some air.

"Mmh." Harry moans and as he continues to kiss her jaw and work his way down her neck.

"I've thought of us like this Harry. Just like this. So many times and now you're here," says Ruth breathless. "I had even said to myself that when I got back to London, the first thing I was going to do was ask_ you_ out to dinner, for us to have that second date together. It was stupid for me say no to you."

Harry pauses and smiles at her. "I've got it all worked out now," he says "Adam's going to be your boss, he'll give you all your assignments, rate your performance, etc. I'm too compromised with you. And, I've wanted this for so long. For us. To be together like this," he says as he continues to kiss her.

"That night we went out to dinner, and the cab dropped us off at my place, I wanted you to kiss me that night Harry," she says smiling.

"No way could I do that," he says.

"Why not?" she laughs.

"I knew that once I started, I wouldn't be able to stop, like right now," he says as he leans in and kisses her. "Are we ok Ruth? Are we ok to be doing this?" he whispers into her ear.

"Yes," she responds. "We're ok, we're great. We've talked so much here. No more talking. Yes?" she says and smiles.

"Yes," says Harry.

They kiss and touch and undress each other. They have both waited and wanted this for so long that there is no rush. They make love slowly and deeply and in silence. They communicate to each other with their eyes, their hands, and their bodies. And they are quiet in each other's arms.


	33. Chapter 33

They lie in the single bed naked together. They are still silent. Both afraid to speak and break the spell they are under. They smile and are playful about not speaking. Ruth breaks first, she knows Harry and she knows that he'll win at a game like this.

"Harry, are you a stowaway with me?" she asks. "The ship is moving, we've left port."

"Yes, I'll stowaway here in this room with you for four days Ruth," he says with a smile.

"I'll bring you some sandwiches from the snack bar. And drinks too," she plays along.

"You'll look after me," he says.

"Yes," she places a hand on his face. "You need sleep Harry."

"I need you," he says as he buries his head into her neck and begins to kiss her again.

She laughs. "Harry, can I ask a question?"

"No," he says and continues to kiss her.

"I was just wondering why you are wearing a wedding band?" she asks with a laugh.

"That's part of my legend here on the cruise ship. Malcolm put it together," he says.

"Do you mean to tell me that I just shagged a married man?" she laughs.

"No, not at all. You just shagged your husband," he laughs.

"My husband? What on earth?"

Harry leans out of the bed and reaches for the envelope in this jacket pocket and hands it to Ruth. She opens the envelope and starts to read. Harry is kissing her arms. He remembers the rings and reaches into the envelope and puts them on her finger while she reads.

"A very wealthy man….ancient Chinese artifacts….. Ok." She reads aloud. She looks at the second piece of paper with their room assignment and her eyes bulge out of her head.

"Christ!" she yells loudly, "Harry Pearce this is a premier cabin on the top deck!" she jumps out of bed and looks back at a dumbfounded Harry. "Get dressed! We've got to get out this room! It's been driving me crazy all week Harry…all I hear is that blasted humming of the engines. It's a sardine can! And this" she says waving the paper in the air "is a Premier cabin! We'll be able to breathe up there Harry. How did he do it! Oh, I could kiss that Malcolm."

"Well I'm not kissing him," says Harry as he slowly swings his legs over the bed. Ruth heads to the closet to get the suitcase. And she remembers the money. She forgot to tell Harry about the money.

"Harry, there's something I forgot to tell you," she says seriously to him.

"What?" he asks with a laugh. He's not concerned. She could tell him that she eats live snakes for breakfast and he wouldn't care. He would still love her. He couldn't love her more he thinks to himself as he gets up and pulls his trousers on. He sits down on the bed. Ruth sits next to him.

"I know that you told Malcolm to tell me not to do any more searching of the Wongs, and wanted me to stay safe and all, but I did do a few things," she says.

"And?" asks Harry.

"Well, I wanted to find out how much money the Wongs were actually carrying. So I devised a plan to extract three bundles of cash from each suitcase, figuring they wouldn't miss that small amount. And they didn't," she looks at him for reassurance. "I would then mathematically figure from this sampling of money a guesstimate on the total. So, I broke into their rooms and removed the bundles of cash from each case and brought it back down here and counted it. But the bundles were all random denominations so it was impossible to come up with a total."

"And?" asks Harry.

"Well, then that Jim Coaver came and took all the suitcases and left in such a hurry that I never had a chance to turn this one over to him." She points to the suitcase.

"You mean to tell me that _that_ suitcase is full of money?" Harry asks pointing at it.

"Yes," she says.

"And no one other than you…and now me…know of its existence?" he asks.

"Yes," she says.

"How much is in there?" he asks, smiling now.

"Well, do you mean now? Or before I went clothes shopping. You see Harry, I've been wearing Kathy Lu's clothes for the last week…I needed new things," she says.

"I need clothes," says Harry.

"I'll buy you new clothes!" she exclaims. She jumps up from the bed and brings the suitcase over and opens it. Harry nearly falls into it.

"Christ Ruth! How much is here?" he is astounded by the sight.

"Uhm, just a little over £ 170,000. I have about € 1,500 pounds in my purse. But I need to get shoes," she adds emphatically.

He loves this woman. He wraps his arms around her and pulls her tight.

"Alright Ruth, let's get going. Pack your stuff. We'll go to our room and then go shopping before the crowd sets in." They kiss briefly. Ruth quickly packs her clothes into her new suitcase. Harry carries the suitcase with the cash and they leave the room.

"I hope there's a safe in the new room," says Harry.

"I'm not going to miss this room one bit." Ruth says as she slams the door.

"Oh? No nice memories in there?" he asks.

"Well, maybe one memory" she kisses him."But our next room is going to be filled with memories Harry," she says and he smiles.

They find their cabin. There are two rooms. The entrance room has a couch and two arm chairs and a television. The bedroom has a king sized bed and there is a small balcony. Ruth is in heaven. Harry opens the money suitcase and retrieves £ 5,000 and places it into his inside breast pocket.

"Do you need more money?" he yells over to her as he opens the safe and stuffs the rest of the cash into it.

Ruth is placing her things in the closet.

"I think I'm good," she yells back. She loves Harry. This is so much fun. This is such an adventure. She walks up behind Harry and wraps her arms around him and rests her head on his back. "Harry, I love you so much." She says into his back. "Just look at us here together. This is meant to be isn't it?"

He turns into her arms. "Yes. It's what we both want." He says. And he pulls her tighter into the embrace.

"Ok. Let's get going. I need a shower, a shave, new clothes. I'm a wealthy man Ruth. I've got to look good. And with you by my side, I can't go wrong." He grabs her hand and leads her to the door.

They shop for new clothes for Harry. He is quick about it. He lets Ruth pick out the new ties for him. He stops in the barber shop for a trim and shave while Ruth searches for shoes. She returns to the barber shop as he is leaving. He looks so handsome. She reaches out and touches his cheek.

"Is that better?" he says as he leans in and kisses her.

"Harry," is all she can say.

They hold hands and return to their cabin. They shower and dress for the early formal dinner. Harry knows that Ruth has not been out on the ship doing fun things and he wants to make the most of this trip. For both of them. He waits on the couch for her and closes his eyes to rest a bit. She's ready not long after him.

"Harry," she says entering the room, "I'm ready."

"You are stunning," he says. They are both dressed beautifully, she in long black dress and he in a gray suit. They join hands and head to the dining room.

"The Lamperts," says Harry to the maitre d.

"Yes, the captain's table this evening. I hope you will enjoy it. Right this way sir," Harry gives a raised eyebrow to Ruth and she smiles. They follow him to a table in the center of the room. There are three other couples seated at the table. They all rise and greet and introduce each other. An architect, a lawyer, another banker, Harry is making mental notes. He grasps Ruth's hand tighter.

"Get me out of a jam if you sense any trouble?" he whispers in her ear and kisses her.

"Of course," she says.

The captain of the ship arrives and introductions all around again. They all sit and are treated to a fabulous meal. Harry and Ruth are enjoying it all. The conversations are light and focus on the QE2 and its history. Ruth glances at Harry throughout the dinner and she knows that she is the luckiest woman in the world. She loves the role playing of their legends. When Harry says things to the group it is made of double meanings and he his almost playing a game with her and their legends. She is thrilled by it all. Harry looks at Ruth and can't believe how lucky he is. He has a beautiful intelligent woman next to him who understands him and is not afraid to play in the world of a spy. His soulmate.

After the dessert, the group discusses the scotch tasting event scheduled for tomorrow and all agree that it would be a fun thing to do. The couples agree to meet up again at the event tomorrow afternoon. Harry and Ruth excuse themselves after a long day and head to their room.

Ruth is staring out at the sea through their balcony windows.

"That was lovely," she says. "Just like normal people. This trip, it will be a good break for us."

Harry stands behind her and puts his arms around her.

"Yeh, just some normal people floating around the Atlantic with over € 160,000 pounds," he laughs. "Nothing could be better than being here with you. I love you," he whispers into her neck.

"I love you Harry." She leans back into him. He reaches to her left hand with his left hand and then with his right hand he slides their wedding rings off together. He is putting their legend away for now.

"Just us tonight Ruth," he says as he starts to kiss her neck, "just us."

Three Weeks Later

Jim Coaver is walking into his office at CIA Headquarters in Virginia.

"Oh, Mr. Coaver" says his secretary "a package came for you while you were away. I put it in your office." She follows him into his office and continues speaking. "The mail room was concerned since it was a rather large package and the return address was 'The Lamperts' with some bullshit address in London. They did some checks and the address doesn't exist. So they x-rayed the package and it appeared to be some type of toy. They were still concerned so they opened it."

"What the hell?" says Coaver as he sees a model ship on his desk.

"Well I checked it out on the internet," she says, "It's a replica of the QE2. I went online and found this same model. It is quite expensive, over $800. There was also a picture of some couple and a note on the back."

Jim Coaver looks at the picture. It is Harry Pearce and his officer that was on that ship. Although their faces are not visible, he knows it is them. They are sitting on a small couch, Harry's arm is around the girl and he is snuggling into her neck. The girl has her face turned into Harry and she is smiling. They are both holding champagne glasses. There is a coffee table in front of them with a suitcase on top of it. Harry's legs are crossed and propped up onto the suitcase.

Jim turns the picture over. On the back is a message. 'Thank you Jim. PS you forgot one.'

"That sly son of a bitch. I love him!" says Coaver with a laugh. He picks up the QE2 ship model and places it on the top of a cabinet in his office that contains several pieces of memorabilia of his past operations.

"So who are they?" asks his secretary laughing.

"Well, it looks like they're the Lamperts." He looks at the photo in his hand. "And it looks like Harry has finally taken my advice and is relaxing a bit."

The end.


End file.
